Is This What It's Like To Live?
by sunlightshadow
Summary: Now that the three heroes of the light have returned home things seem peaceful at last. That is, however, until a mysterious person from the dark shows up. But what if this character from the dark is the only hope to save the light?Sora X Kairi, Riku X OC
1. I Am You, You Are Me

**Hey there everybody, SunlightShadow here! First of all, thank you for even bothering to click on this story and take the time to check it out, it means a lot. This is my first story here on the website, so sorry if my story is a bit odd as I get used to the site. Reviews, positive or not-so-positive are always welcome, my only request being that if you tell me something that you dislike about my story, I'd like a reason on how I could fix it and/or improve the story as a whole. A quick little thing that will come into play throughout this story is:**

_Italics are the thoughts of the person whose POV it is._

**Bold is the thoughts of a character who you will meet soon, her thoughts are ALWAYS in bold.**

_**Bold AND italics are the thoughts of other people when I'm not writing from their POV.**_

**All right, read on, and I hope you like it!**

The quiet sound of a portal from the dark opening was heard only by the girl who came through it. She glanced around the island, her eyes lingering on the silhouettes of three teenagers who were lounging on a smaller island connected to the larger one she was standing on by a wooden bridge. From what she could tell there were two boys and a girl. Her eyes momentarily flashed a different color but, thanks to the sunset, she could see no better than before. Even their voices had faded somewhere in the space between her and the three strangers. She did a quick 360 and took in every part of the island that she could see. Her gaze rested again on the three teenagers, watching them closely.

**Its beautiful here…how nauseating.**

_Just one of the many reasons we can't stay. The beauty that is, not the condition of your stomach. Do you even have a stomach?_

**How the hell should I know? If I do it's completely pointless- I don't eat.**

_You're bizarre._

**I am you.**

_Yeah, I know you are. You've made sure my life suck ever since you came into it!_

**Inadvertently.**

_Details, details. The point is I'm sick of it._

**So what are you going to do about it?**

_I can't do anything about it._

**Exactly. So you should learn to love it…whatever love is. You beings of light like love right?**

_Yeah, we do. Not that I've ever experienced it._

**Not my fault.**

This mental conversation continued between the two in the girl's mind. She wasn't insane. She wasn't alone either. There was always someone there, inside her mind, occasionally taking a form of their own. Making her invincible at a price.

_Wow do I even remember what it was like to be me and not us….._

**Hey snap out of it! Two of them are coming NOW!**

_Shit…._

**We need a shadow.**

_If you could turn to your left please! Thank you for playing Find a Shadow!_

**Oh shut up.**

The girl quickly walked over to where a long shadow had settled on the ground, made by a few bushes. The girl quickly stepped into the shadow, the sun now hidden from view. She closed her eyes and became still. The darkness embraced her and she was soon invisible. She listened as the boy and the girl walked by. Once they were past her she opened her eyes, now the only visible part of her. The boy had spiky brunette hair and the girl had auburn hair that went down to her shoulders. They were walking close together, there hands occasionally bumping but never grabbing on to the other. There auras were so bright it was painful for her to be so close to them while in the form she was in.

**Oh I'm gonna throw up. **

_You can't throw up- you don't eat._

**I can sure as hell still try though.**

_Good luck with that. Just stay away from me when you do attempt that._

The two stopped at a small wooden dock with three small boats tied to it.

"Here Kairi, do you want me to push your boat off so you can get going easier? The spiky haired boy asked.

"Sora its fine! Just because I didn't save the world twice doesn't mean I can't row my own boat to our island!" Kairi said.

"Ok ok, just trying to help." Sra said, holding his hands up in a surrendering motion.

"I know you are Sora." Kairi said with a sigh.

The two both got into their boats and Kairi took one last glance towards the smaller island where the boy was still sitting.

_Just leave already dammit!_

**I second that.**

"Are you sure he will be ok?"

"Yeah, just give him some time alone to think things through."

"Ok." Kairi said uncertainly.

With that the two pushed off the dock and rowed away from the island. The girl stayed still until they were out of sight.

_Finally! God that hurt!_

**It isn't normal for one person to be that filled with light. Let alone two!**

_Your world is fading._

**Thanks to those idiots who screwed with Kingdom Hearts. TWICE I might add!**

_I can't say I disagree with them. I would've been in trouble if the heartless population had gotten any bigger._

**You would've been fine with me.**

_You do have your limits you know._

**So you say.**

The girl lingered there until night came and the full moon rose up into the sky.

**This is my time of night!**

_Then it must be midnight. _

**You got it.**

_The guy still hasn't left. Do you think he fell asleep?_

**If so can I go scare the crap out of him?**

_No one deserves that from you._

**True.**

_You know what? I'm gonna go talk to him._

**You're insane. I'm not asking. It's a fact.**

_I haven't talked to someone in two years, 64 days, and 3 hours. And that was only to tell him I was going to kill him if he didn't stop pointing that stupid gun at me. He was an idiot. The gun wasn't even loaded._

**You're a very pleasant person. Did you know that?**

_No_

**Good cause it ain't true**_._

_Ok here I go!_

**Shit.**

The girl walked silently up to where a small shack stood. She jumped up and grabbed the roof before flipping up the rest of the way, landing on the roof in a crouching position. She stood up and silently walked across the wooden bridge, her footsteps making no noise as she crossed. She stopped where the bridge ended and observed the guy again. Her eyes flashed a different color again and she was finally able to see what she had been looking for.

**Finally! The night is so much better than the day.**

_He's just staring…at the moon._

**Do you think he likes night too? Uh-oh, I think I might be in love, oh wait! I CAN'T love. Phew! I'm safe.**

_You're messed up._

From what the girl could tell, thanks to her improved eyesight, was that he had silver hair, and was wearing jeans, black shoes, a yellow jacket, and a black jacket on. She could also tell his aura was a much darker aura than the other two. She could see darkness inside of him but what really surprised her was that it had a form. She looked harder, squinting with concentration. The guy was the wielder of a blade!

**Impressive. **

_Do you know that blade?_

**I know ALL the blades. Given they involve darkness. Then there's that damn keyblade. I hate that thing.**

_Are you just trying to piss me off?_

**Is it working?**

_Just tell me the name of the freaking blade._

**It's called Road to the Dawn. It's a blade made for one person per generation, like the keyblade, and is used by those who can control the power of darkness and use it to fight for the light.**

_I like him already._

**Well I'm starting to like him less. Fighting for the light. Stupid.**

_You fight for the light!_

**That's only because you do. And I am you so I fight for the light by default.**

_Whatever. I think I will go talk to him._

**And if pulls his blade on you.**

_I'll kick his ass. Just like I do whenever anyone else tries to hurt me. I think its reflex._

**And you say I'm messed up.**

_Your right, I do. Well here goes nothing._

**Literally.**

With that girl stepped off the bridge and onto the small island. The boy looked up, sensing her presence.

**He still hasn't seen you. Me. Us. Whatever. Let's go NOW!**

She ignored the voice in her head.

"Hello. My name's Lauren. And you are?"

**Oh shit we're screwed.**


	2. Painful Introductions

"Riku" the boy replied, still not facing me. "Are you from around here?"

"Nope" I replied.

"In that case, what the hell you doing here?" Riku jumped up and spun in mid-air and had his hand on my throat before I could react, or at least, before I _chose _to react. I could've easily killed him anytime during that jump but hey, this might get interesting. No point in killing him yet, after all, I do sort of like him. It would be interesting to talk with him. I can't talk to dead people.

**You can't, but I can.**

_Freak._

_*Riku* _

After grabbing this girl's throat do you know the first thing I did? I thought _awe shit Riku you are a bastard._ Because I just grabbed the throat of the prettiest girl I had ever met. _Dammit._ She had straight blond hair that flipped out at the ends and blue eyes that seemed to change shades every time she blinked. She was maybe a little taller than Kairi and definitely was stronger. She was skinny but I could tell that she wasn't the kind of girl who would cornered by a guy against her will. She would beat the crap out of the guy, I could tell, and guess what; _I_ was that guy at the moment. Of course, I wasn't any ordinary guy. She looked at me calmly and then, to my surprise, she smiled.

"Do you usually threaten strangers with their lives or am I just lucky?" she asked me. Oh _God _her voice was amazing. It was light and sweet and smooth. It seemed to glide on the air to my ears. I was just about to let go of her throat and apologize when pain snapped through my body. I gasped before falling to the ground. _Damn that freaking bitch._

_*Lauren*_

**Oh that's cold.**

_That freaking IDIOT! Who the hell does he think he is?_

**I'm guessing Riku.**

_SHUT UP!_

Ok so I was pissed. He just cusses at me and grabs my throat like I'm a freaking- well that doesn't happen to anything or anyone except me.

**I can't believe you hit him **_**there**_**. He's probably a girl now.**

_I think he died._

**He's all curled up and stuff. Is he breathing?**

_I don't care. Fucking bastard._

**Now we are on the same page.**

I smirked. She was obviously rubbing off on me since seeing Riku on the groaning (he is alive after all) in pain made me smile. I bent down and rested my arm gently on his shoulder. The rest of me was alert, ready for him to strike out at me.

"Now we are both even." I said pleasantly, keeping my voice calm and even.

"Son of a bitch." Riku groaned

"Actually I'm a girl." I said with a smile. Riku looked up at me and grudgingly smiled.

"So you knee me, uh, _there_ and then start joking?" I nodded.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?" I couldn't help it. Seeing Riku freaking out like that just…cracked me up! I laid my head on his elbow and laughed until he hit me over the head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry. Seeing you freak out like that is just too funny!" I smiled my award-winning smile before standing up and offering him my hand.

**Just make it fast, I don't want you wasting any more time.**

_Huh? What are you talking about?_

**You always smile like that before you kill someone. I think you got it from me.**

_Well I'm sure as hell not gonna kill him! __**Yet.**_

_*Riku*_

_Stop laughing before I die inside._ I silently begged. Her laugh was so perfect. Thank God I wasn't a love at first sight person because a) that would suck and b) I'd be in big trouble. This girl was _fast,_ I never even saw her knee coming until my almost sex-change occurred. Her eyes are too distracting. She finally stopped laughing before getting up and offering me her hand. I wasn't sure I could take any more contact with this girl at the moment so I shook my head.

"And risk you injuring me any more? Hell no I will get up myself." She laughed before dusting herself off and leaning back against the sideways tree that Sora, Kairi, and I usually sit/lean on. _She laughed again. Dammit can I move now? Yes feet I am talking to you now MOVE! _I stood up doing my best not to groan. Yeah that's gonna be sore in the morning...and a few mornings after that. I walked over to her and flipped over the tree so I was no longer facing her. I managed to calm down a bit and managed to establish that I wouldn't date this girl yet, but she _was_ amazing. I wanted to know more about her first.

"Show off" she muttered before flipping over the tree as well. It seemed completely natural for her. I wonder what it looked like for me. _Oh do I really even care?_

*_Lauren*_

**He seems nice. I officially hate him.**

_You are not a people person. I'm gonna talk to him more._

**Yes, so I can come up with more reasons to want to kill him!**

_Killing isn't always the answer you now._

**And you believe that shit?**

_Nope._

"So Riku…can you tell me bit about yourself?" Pretty quickly I realized how bad of an idea that was.

"Well I've spent the past year and a half saving the worlds from darkness." Riku replied like it was a totally normal thing that happened to everyone.

_Oh no._

**What. Did. He. Just. Say?**

_Awe shit of all the people in the freaking worlds it HAD to be HIM!_

**Oh I am going TO FUCKING MURDER HIM!**

_Dammit._

_*Riku*_

"And I've also been through to the other side of Kingdom Hearts. My friends and I saved the worlds from darkness _twice_ and we also did some stuff with Kingdom Hearts too. It's kind of hard to explain though. We also defeated Xehanort's Heartless and everyone member of Organization XIII." I finished smugly, smiling as her mouth dropped.

"Ha-ha I guess you've heard of me then. Yeah I suppose I am kind of a legend. Maybe you would like to apologize for kneeing me now?" _Yeah I know, I put it on a little thick. _I watched Lauren's face turn pale and a scared look come into her eyes. _What did I do?_

"Are you ok?" I asked, worried I'd done something to offend her. I raised up my hand to put it on her forehead when her hand shot out suddenly and grabbed my wrist, squeezing it painfully.

"Don't. Touch. _Me."_ she said, her voice deadly.

*_Lauren*_

_Relax please!_

**How can I fucking relax when that god damn bastard is right I front of me! He and that freaking spiky haired son of a bitch are the two who messed up MY WORLD! They completely screwed up the darkness! Everything is a mess all because of them! MY DOMAIN is complete chaos because these damn idiots had to go and be heroes! I'm going to kill him and his stupid friends! I'm going to destroy the whole freaking island! And I am going to do it NOW! I may not understand love but I now hatred and pain and revenge. I know them better then anything else. This island had better say its prayers because it is going burn. In. HELL! Starting with this silvered haired bastard right here in front of me.**


	3. Anger and Resolve, Plus A Yellow Jacket

_*Lauren*_

I knew right then what I had to do. I had to go somewhere where we could talk out loud without the risk someone hearing us. Where no matter how much we fought, how many times our blades hit the other's, no matter how much we bled nothing would really happen. This was going to be unpleasant. I could tell.

_*Riku*_

Oh my god oh my god oh my god. She's like having seizure or a heart attack or something! She's gonna die she's gonna die she's gonna die! Oh shit I think **I'm **having a heart attack now!

I did my best not to completely lose it and go momentarily insane. She was gonna die somehow. It seemed sort of inevitable. If she lived I would kill her for freaking me out like this! She was so pale and frozen. I didn't think she was breathing either. She was still squeezing the crap out of my wrist though. She was just staring off into the distance, concentrating hard on something. If she threw up blood right then I probably wouldn't have been surprised because it fit the moment so well. Then I realized something- I really needed to find something better to watch on TV. Something that wasn't so violent and made me expect things like people throwing up blood.Then she slowly looked up at me and it was obvious she was fighting something. _Oh god dammit._

_*Lauren*_

I forced myself to relax...wait I'm forgetting something. Oh yeah, the silvered haired hero over here who is freaking out. Right. I looked up at him and saw concern and panic in his eyes. He opened his mouth but I covered it, smothering his words with my hand.

"Please don't say anything." I said quietly. I needed to concentrate. If he said anything my concentration would break and odds are we would both be in trouble. I lowered my hand and closed my eyes, tapping into the forbidden. That power source that lay deep inside me, the result of two powerful beings colliding and forming one being. It was the most destructive thing there was, and it was inside of me. I could never use it, it was too strong. I released a small amount of it into my body and felt the energy spread. I knew the difficult part was only seconds away. I concentrated harder. I felt the power flow through me and immediately the side affect began. I needed to fight. _Now. _I couldn't hold this kind of energy in without releasing it. I refused to let this destructive force leave my body, and did my best not to scream when the pain began. I felt it eat away at my body. With nothing else to destroy it had turned on me- the very person who possessed it. I felt my energy level collapse and then I passed out. All according to plan…I think.

_*Riku*_

_Why the hell didn't I just bring my cell phone to the island?! I must be stupid._ _Girl passes out and Riku calls 911, therefore saving the girl's life. Uh-huh no. That's not how this is gonna work. You know why? Because I'm an idiot who is just too cool apparently to bring my damn cell phone to the island!!_ _Now Lauren is passed out and what am I gonna do?! _

"Ok, first thing's first- is she breathing? Uh……no. Oh my God, Ok next- vital signs. Anything there?! Please let something be there." I quietly talked myself through this before placing my hand on her wrist. I couldn't find any vital signs at all. _Ok Riku just put your hand on her chest and see if she has a heartbeat. _I wasn't sure where this sudden knowledge in medical reacted things was coming from but if it was my Nobody I was personally going to give him whatever he wanted for the next year. I gently put my hand on Lauren's chest and felt and fast and rapid heartbeat, almost too fast. _How is this possible?! How can you not be breathing but pumping blood that fast._ I knew there was something different about Lauren. I just didn't know _how _different. _Ok CPR it is. Oh damn I hope I remember how to do this…._

_*Lauren*_

*_Clang* _My blade crashed against hers yet again. I quickly summoned my other blade and flipped backwards, bringing them both up to block her vicious attacks.

"How can you defend them?!" she yelled at me. "They are the reason you and I are so weak suddenly!"

"Yeah, because they only saved the worlds to weaken us personally! Not in the interests of all other Light Beings in all the worlds!" I yelled back. I wasn't going to let her kill Riku or any of his friends. I slammed my blades forwards but she embraced the attack by back flipping across the expanse we were fighting on. I ran across the cold landscape, my blades dragging on the ground, bringing up sparks, before jumping into the air- spinning around multiple times. I hit her a few times and she went flying backwards. She landed lightly on her feet and charged at me. I blocked her first attack with my right blade but she the aimed the hilt of her blade at my second so it caught on her blade. Then she flung her arm outward so my left blade went flying, leaving me vulnerable. She sliced her sword up my body, leaving a bloody trail in her sword's wake. I staggered back and she smirked, enjoying my pain. An image of Riku, leaning over my unconscious body appeared and she focused on the image. She slowly lifted up her blade as a black and purple colored orb formed on the end, growing slowly but steadily. She looked at me and winked.

"You thought that by making yourself pass out he, along with the rest of those assholes, would be safe from my harm, huh? Well this right here" she gestured towards the orb, "is going to hit this image of Riku but the thing is it's going to kill him in real life too. So it turns out your dramatic fall into unconsciousness was completely wasted." She took aim and I, barely being able to stand, made a split decision. She was missing something important, though I couldn't blame her for overlooking it. If I died, she died to. And who would ever expect me to do this. I leaped forward and blocked the image, forcing my arms away from my wound and out in front of me.

"You shoot that and it's just going to hit me, and I'm going to take a wild guess and say I would die right then, along with you." I said, knowing I finally had her beat.

"You wouldn't dare try and-"

"I would! Haven't you been listening?! I don't care about life anymore. I've destroyed so many other lives I've lost taste in life myself. This life holds nothing for me. I have no reason to be here. Nothing to lose, nothing to miss, and _no one_ that would miss _me_. So go ahead and shoot, you're just committing suicide." She glared at me before lowering her blade, the orb disappearing.

"Fine. We won't kill them. Only because their lives and ours are connected. At least they will be for a while." I looked at her and realized she knew something that I didn't. I didn't think that was possible but I had no idea what she was talking about when it was clear she knew exactly what she was saying. Then I felt an odd sensation, it was like I was being pulled, upwards almost. She smirked.

"Looks like Silver Haired Bastard knows CPR" she said. _Well that's embarrassing. _At least he considers my life worth saving, unlike me.

"Don't call him that. He's just trying to save my life; it's your life too."

"And I shudder just thinking about it. Now wake up before you give Silver Haired Bastard another heart attack. "

_*Riku*_

_Wake up already! Now! _Lauren's eyes fluttered. I breathed into her body, trying to get her lungs working steadily. _Yes now means now!_ With a sharp inhale, she sat up straight, her head colliding with my shoulder.

"Hello there how are you feeling?" I said sarcastically.

"Quite well. Oh wow is it morning already hahaha." Lauren said, her head spinning slightly. Then her eyes went out of focus and she collapsed back on the ground. I leaned over her, confused, wasn't it the middle of the night? Yes, yes it was. I _was_ ready to do more CPR though if I had to, regardless of the time. All of a sudden her eyes flew open.

"BOO!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"AAHH! I mean uh…ow that hurt my ears." I finished lamely. _Yeah, because anyone would buy bullshit like that mhm._

"Haha whatever you say Riku" Lauren said. She sat up straight and I backed up, giving her some space.

"I just saved your life! You should at least thank me!"

"Thank you for yelling when I screamed at you-it made my passing out worth it." She said with a smile. "In case you didn't know, I had everything under control."

"Including the part where you stopped breathing?"

"Exactly"

"For ten minutes?" I really had no idea how long it had been but ten minutes seemed like a good amount of time.

"Oh really? Ten minutes it was that long huh?" she said muttered before yawning.

"Hey you must be tired; almost dying tends to wear a person down. So I've heard anyway."

"I may have heard that too somewhere…you're right I am tired, now what the hell is up with that?"

"It's called being a human being. We get tired after a while."

"I wonder where I should sleep…any suggestions. By the way I have no money so don't even suggest a hotel"

"Hmmm" I would've offered to have her stay at my house but my parents weren't leaving until tomorrow! _Crap, she can't stay at Sora's house, or any one else's for that matter- nobody knows her so I can't just leave her with somebody else._ I glanced sadly over to my only option.

"All I've got is the shack over there" I said, pointed towards the old shack that led up to the bridge connecting the two islands together.

"It'll do." Lauren said with a shrug. "I don't plan on staying long anyway"

"You don't?" I said sadly. I didn't want her to leave yet- I just met her! And even worse I really liked her. Not even Sora and I had this much in common, well maybe we did, it was pretty close, Sora and I were definitely closer though. And no one else on the island had sense of humor quite like mine. Lauren's wasn't exactly the same but it came pretty close. I stood up and offered Lauren my hand which she took. I helped her to her feet and we headed over towards the shack.

_*Lauren*_

_Man why am I tired?! And since when am I cold?! Hellooooo? Oh I get it. Now where the hell did she go…?_

She had disappeared which meant for now I had my mind to myself. At least that explained why I was tired. When we were just one person sleeping wasn't as essential as to when I was just myself. Eating and drinking weren't as essential either, just annoying chores and needs I had to take care of every once in a while. The fact that this shack is freezing isn't really making me appreciate these annoying extra things either. _Yeah I can't really feel hot or cold either when we are one person. _I shivered and saw goose bumps on my arms.

"You cold?" Riku asked. I nodded. "Here" he said, removing his yellow jacket, revealing the pure black one he had on underneath.

"Thanks" I said, before putting it on. Luckily it was big enough that I could slip my arms comfortably inside, which helped me to warm myself up a little better.

"It's not much. If you decide to spend the night here tomorrow I will bring you a blanket or something ok?"

"That'd be great! Thanks!" I said, trying not to let my exhaustion show. I hadn't slept in maybe a month or two and now it was crashing down on me, _hard._

"So are you going to stay here tomorrow night?" I immediately saw what he was looking for. He wanted to know when he was going to need to say good-bye.

"Probably. If no one else decides to randomly grab my throat when I introduce myself. I promise I won't leave in the dead of night without telling you." I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Good" he said happily, "I'd be pissed if you left with my jacket" We both laughed for a minute before I yawned again.

"Ok I'm leaving, you must be pretty tired." Riku said.

"Finally" I said loudly. Riku looked hurt. "I'm just kidding! Thanks, for the jacket, not saving my life."

"Your welcome, for saving your life, not the jacket." He replied. I gave him a hug which he returned. _Now why the hell do I want to give him another hug? He only gets one hug each day. It's my policy, not that I've ever hugged anyone anyways but still._

"I'm glad I met you, Riku"

"Yeah that's what most people say after they meet me" Riku said arrogantly. I just rolled my eyes.

"_Good night _Riku." I said pushing him towards the door.

"Night" he replied with a smile, before disappearing out the door.

"Ok you can come out now." I said, staring directly at a shadow on the other side of the small shack.

"How did you know I was here? I_ know_ that I was invisible"

"_Please,_ I knew you were here the moment I stepped in here." I replied.

"I figured you would enjoy the chance to actually sleep."

"Sure I would, but how will you be spending your night?" It _was _her agenda that mattered after all. I couldn't wake up to find an island of dead people now could I?

"I'm just gonna explore this little island…really" I knew she was telling the truth and could tell her thoughtless and uncontrollable rage and urge to kill Riku & co. had subsided so I merely rolled over and closed my eyes. I didn't dream of anything, just a endless abyss of darkness. _How typical and completely expected from me._


	4. Painless Introductions

**Ok hi everyone! My first official author's note (yeah I know, it IS the 4****th**** chapter) so this is my first story and I hope you like it (yeah I should've done this at the beginning of chapter 1) oh well! Here's my disclaimer!**

_Sora: Uh what's the disclaimer again?_

**Me: How should I know? It's your job to say the disclaimer.**

_Sora: Uh can I phone a friend?_

**Me: Just forget it *sigh***

_Sora: I still get a cookie right?_

**Me: I'll think about it.**

_*Lauren*_

"Wake up already!" Riku said in my ear, annoyed. I opened one eye and looked at him.

"No." I said, before rolling over and quickly fading back towards the wonderful world of sleep.

"Waaake uuuup!" Riku yelled, shaking my shoulder so much my whole body was trembling.

"Aahhh!" I yelled, quickly rolling over.

"Don't pass out again! It's just Riku!" It was clear he wasn't going to let me live this down for a long time.

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever." I said casually, struggling to wake up completely. Riku stood back and watched me slowly sit up straighter with a yawn.

"Introducing the lazy and sleep deprived teen!" he said. I threw his jacket at him, covering up his face.

"I like that look on you." I said thoughtfully. Riku put his hands on his hips before realizing the jacket was still covering his face.

"Sora, Kairi, Tidus, and everyone else are waiting to meet you on the smaller island so get ready NOW!!" I am happy to say I looked murderous at that moment. Riku left the shack and I got up, ready to summon her up so we could become one person again when Riku stepped back into the shack, causing me to jump.

"Kairi wanted me to give you these. I'm not sure if they will fit though." He tossed me a bundle of clothing.

"There's a brush in there too. I think you need it." He said with a smirk.

"That's ok, you can use it first" I shot back at him. He frowned; his hair was obviously a weak spot for jokes. _I'm going to have to remember that._ Riku stood there awkwardly, obviously racking his head for a comeback."You can leave now." I said, pointing to the door.

"Right" Once he was gone I waited for a moment, half expecting him to come barging in again with something else donated from this mysterious Kairi. When I decided it was safe I mentally called out to her and then began to change into my new clothes. When she appeared I held out my hand, not wanting us to have to speak out loud. She grabbed it before fading, a swirling blackness left behind, and after a minute even that faded too.

**So this is what welcoming committees do these days, they lend out clothes to strangers.**

_Yep. Isn't it useful?_

**I would still rather just stick with the usual dark cloak.**

_That would work if we weren't around people._

**So we can leave?**

_No. Just another day or two._

**Fine.**

I quickly changed into the navy blue shirt Riku had given me along with the denim Capri's. I also brushed my hair and, to my utter displeasure, realized that it was no longer straight but wavy. I put my blade under my brush and whispered fire. A flame erupted at the end of my blade and I held it under my brush until the brush was warm. Then I slowly pulled it through my hair. It actually worked.

"Well what do ya know? A hair straightening brush." I said, happy with my creativity.

"Are you done talking having conversations with yourself yet? People want to meet you. I have no idea why though." Riku said, suddenly appearing at the door.

**That's a no on the talking to herself. She does that a lot and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon.**

_I'm usually talking to you. Oh wait. You are me. Crap I'm going insane._

**You just realized that?**

"Hey I could've been changing! Don't you knock?!" I said angrily. Riku blushed at the thought.

"Sorry" he said looking down.

"Alright let's go see these friends of yours!" I said. He looked up and smiled brightly before heading out the door, leaving me to follow him.

**Well here goes nothing.**

_Literally._

**Oh that's just hilarious, use my line against me hahaha.**

_Don't laugh mentally or out loud. It's disturbing._

**I know.**

_*Kairi*_

"Man are we ever going to meet this mystery girl?!" Sora moaned. I laughed.

"I have never met anyone with less patience then you" I said with a smile.

"Kairi! Don't say stuff like that or Sora will never ask you out!" Selphie said loudly, obviously forgetting that Sora was right next to me.

"Selphie!" I moaned while Sora just blushed and looked away.

"Riku's probably just making out with her in that tiny shack anyway. This could be a while." Tidus said.

"Ya man I agree" Wakka said.

"Oh is that them?!" Selphie squealed. I turned to see Riku leading a blond girl towards us. From what I could tell the clothes I lent her fit perfectly. _Well that's kind of odd._

"Well I hope they enjoyed themselves WHILE WE WERE WAITING FOREVER!!!" Tidus said, his voice rising into a shout so Riku and Whatsername could her us.

"Sorry!" Whatsername shouted. "Riku here had to do his hair…TWICE!" She said with a laugh.

I smiled, she had probably known Riku for only a few hours and already she had him pegged and vulnerable for mocking. Riku shoved her playfully which sent her stumbling side ways a few steps, but luckily she recovered before falling off the wooden bridge. She shoved Riku back, hard, which made him stumble to the edge. He quickly put his hands out to balance himself. Then Whatsername jumped into the air and spun around, her legs straight out. She hit Riku in the shoulder with her right leg which sent him tumbling into the ocean below. She landed easily and laughed before running up to the rest of us.

"Hi there! I'm Lauren." She said to all of us with a bright smile.

"You do know that now Riku will have to do his hair all over again now right?" I asked her with a smile.

"I figured" she replied, before shaking my hand.

_*Lauren*_

**Ew, people.**

_Shut up._

"So I've got Sora, Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka?" she asked, pointing to us all in turn.

"You got it!" Tidus said with a wink. _Uh-oh._

**Looks like someone wants to get to know you better.**

_Which will result in you killing him right?_

**Right!**

"And Riku too" Riku said, stepping off a small ladder and onto the island.

"Pretty Boy you're alive!" Selphie shrieked before throwing herself onto Riku. She immediately recoiled.

"Pretty Boy you're all wet!" she said with shock.

"Yeah Selph that's what happens when someone falls into the ocean." Riku said with strained patience. "Or should I say _kicked _into the ocean!" he said, the remark obviously aimed at me.

"Details" I said with a wave of my hand, everyone laughed.

_I like these people._

**Actually half of you does.**

_Tough luck Ms. Other Half._

"Hey if you ever want to piss Riku off or you want him to leave you alone just call him Pretty Boy." Selphie whispered to me. She snapped her fingers. "Works like a charm!"

"Thanks. That may actually come in handy" I said thoughtfully. Selphie smiled happily.

"Then my work here is done!" She said energetically

"Oh crap!" Kairi exclaims. "What time is it?!"

"Dammit!"

"Shit!"

"Ok is this like the hour where you guys all just cuss or something?" I ask, seriously what is up with these people?

"No every Friday we all leave the islands early and go home and make some sort of food. Then we come back and we all eat dinner on the island and have a party afterwards, kind of like a luau" Sora explained. "Kairi, Tidus and I always make the main course, Selphie and Riku make dessert, and Wakka brings extra things like snacks and plates, you know." He continued

"Oh ok I got it" I said "Hey can I help at all?"

"Sure you can help me wit da snacks." Wakka said. "I also need help carrying down da radio dat we always use to play music for our party"

"Ok"

"Ok and break!" Sora said, flinging his hand into the air. No one reacted.

"Ok well we better hurry! Seeya back her in two hours!" Selphie said before taking off towards the boats, leaving Riku to run after her. Everyone separate doff into groups and headed towards the boats.

"You will have to share my boat with me but we can both fit" Wakka said.

"That's cool"

**This is STUPID!! You're helping organize a party! I did not br-**

_Do NOT bring that up right now. After tonight we are still leaving. Plus if I decline they will know something is up!_

**You know me too well.**

_How could I not? We are the same person!_

**Boring party here we come.**

_I'm glad you didn't use any enthusiasm._

**Why?**

_Your enthusiasm scares me._

**Ooohhh so Lauren is going to help with the Destiny Island party huh? But what was ??? trying to say when Lauren cut her off? Find out in the next chapter!!! Or a few chapters after that…. I will introduce a one-sided romance in the next chapter though. Any guesses? Review please! **


	5. A Party and Disappointment

Ok so here is chapter #5! And my disclaimer (said by someone other than Sora because Sora doesn't know it!)

**Riku- You have no disclaimer**

_Me-Seriously?_

**Riku-yup**

_Me- ok then_

**Sora- What?! When I didn't know the disclaimer I got in trouble but when Riku doesn't know the disclaimer….?!**

_Me-Correction: You said you didn't __**know **__the disclaimer. Riku said I don't __**have**__ a disclaimer. There's a difference._

**Sora-That's stupid**

I leaned back and closed my eyes, felling the sun's heat on my face. The image of the sunset seemed imprinted in the inside of my eyelids. "I love the sunset here, it's really beautiful"

**Ok now I'm going to go attempt to throw up.**

"Yeah the sunsets here are great. That's actually one of the things I missed most about Destiny Islands" Riku said. We were both sitting on the crooked tree that was on the small island, having already done our part in preparing for our luau.

"Who wants crab?!" Sora yelled, revealing a bowl full of crab legs. I'm pretty sure I saw Tidus start drooling.

"Not me!" I said quietly so only Riku could here me.

"Haha suit yourself I'm going to eat!" he said, getting up.

"Enjoy" I said

"Oh you know I will!" he said with a wink. I smiled before leaning back with my eyes closed. I put my hands behind my head as I fell towards the sand. I used my hands which were firmly on the ground to bring myself into a hand stand, before falling forwards so I landed on my feet.

"So what all is there?" I asked, clapping my hands together. Kairi took my hand and led me around and pointed out all the different things there were to eat and drink.

**I'm getting sicker by the minute.**

There were chips and pretzels (of course) crab, a fruit bowl filled with fresh fruits from all over the island, and a devil's food cake with white frosting for desert.

**Haha Devil's Food, do you think they know about us.**

_I thought you weren't going to laugh anymore._

**I never made any promises.**

"So where's the throne for the guest of honor? Since you guys went all out on everything else since I'm here." I joked. Kairi smiled and looked around before turning back to me

"How did you know about going all out for you?" she whispered

"Selphie told me" I replied.

"Selphie" Kairi hissed "of course! Well I hope you don't mind, Riku said you wouldn't be here very long so we thought we would give you a party Destiny Islands style!" she said.

_Riku said what? Grrr_

"Don't worry someone I trusted has already spilled a secret of mine too." I replied. Leaving Kairi there looking confused I headed over to Riku, who was have an eating contest with Sora to see who could eat 5 crab legs the fastest. Riku had an advantage though since he was stronger and could just break open the crab legs with his hands. _This is pretty amazing though, I'm impressed. They have the tiki torches all around this little island, the music, the food, and- is Selphie seriously wearing a grass skirt?! That's weird. _When I got over to where Riku and Sora were, surrounded by Tidus and Wakka, Riku was about to start on his last crab legs and Sora was only on his 3rd.

"Looks like Sora is gonna be the winner of this one because I need to talk to you, _now._" I told Riku, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him up.

"Can't it wait?!" Riku protested. I leaned in close to him and whispered

"If you don't come with right this freaking second I will knee you so hard no one will ever believe you're a guy!"

"Coming" Riku said with a sigh. I led him down the wooden bridge to the entrance to the shack so no one could hear us. Riku looked at the shack and his eyes widened.

"Oh I get it now." He said with a weird glint in his eye.

**Is he serious?**

_Is he really saying what I think he's saying?_

**I think so**

_He's a self-absorbed idiot sometimes._

"No stupid! I've known you for a day! I'm not going in the freaking shack alone with you! My God! I want to talk to you about how you told everyone I was leaving tomorrow!" Riku blushed…badly.

"I figured you would want to say good-bye to everyone!" he said

"One freaking good-bye is enough thank you!" I snapped at him. _Oh shit_

"Well I'm sorry I have to bother you so much! You can just leave tomorrow and don't worry! I won't be here when you do!" Riku said before storming off.

"Riku!" I yelled, but he ignored me. I groaned before sinking to the ground, bringing my knees up to my chest.

_I barely know him. So why am I so sad?_

**Yeah Lauren! Why **_**are **_**you so sad?**

_I don't know._

**Stop feeling hopeless- it's annoying!**

I looked up to see Riku and Kairi standing together. Kairi looked pretty angry. _They are probably both really mad about how awful I was to Riku. Then they will tell everyone else so they can all plan my demise, by which time I will be a few worlds away. This sucks._

I closed my eyes and strained my hearing, trying to pick up what they were saying; Kairi did appear to be yelling. I waited but I didn't hear anything.

**No you just don't **_**want **_**to hear anything.**

_Either way I can't tell what they are talking about._

I rested my head between my knees and wondered what to do. If I should just leave right then or wait and see how this all turned out. In the distance I heard footsteps but I didn't look up until the footsteps stopped. They had sounded pretty distant even when they stopped so I wondered how I could still hear them if I hadn't been able to hear Kairi yelling across the bridge. I looked up to see a pair of black shoes right in front of me. And guess what? They were connected to legs, and a torso, and a head. And the head had silver hair.

_Dammit I have the worst luck!_

**Sorry I'm pretty sure that's my fault.**

"You walk fast" I mumbled, refusing to look him in the eyes.

"You know we did this whole giant luau thing for you and you're over here moping." Riku said. He squatted down so he was at my eye level, putting his elbows on his knees. He looked at me, his eyes gentle.

"Leave me alone to fade into darkness." I mumbled, right then nothing really seemed to matter.

**What did you say?**

_You heard me_

"What did you say?

"I said you heard me!" I yelled looking up.

_Oh wait, that was Riku the 2__nd__ time wasn't it?_

**Nice.**

"Are you done yelling?" he asked. _Am I done being a bitch is more like it, I suck._

"Hey stop being emo! That's my job" he said with a grin. I paused.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!" I yelled

"Use my line against me so funny hahaha" Riku said before standing up and offering me his hand.

**What did he say? AAHHH he's my male reincarnate!**

_If having one line in common means he's your reincarnate then I'm his, which sucks._

'**Oh right, in that case he's him and I'm us. Because no one can be you, you're too bizarre**

_That was almost a compliment_

I took Riku's hand and he pulled me up.

"Ready to go back" I asked.

"No not quite" he replied.

"Huh?"

"You'll see I just want to show you the other half of the island before it gets too dark. Since you haven't seen it yet"

**Au contraire Silver Haired Bastard**

_Haha that was actually funny. Well this half hasn't seen the Cove yet so I want to go! _

**Then I'm leaving, I'll be in the shack when you are done with your boring party.**

_Ok bye!_

**Whatever**

As soon as she was gone I began to feel a little funny but I quickly brushed it off. I had felt much, much worse so I wasn't about to let a little bit of nausea get to me. Riku showed me around to the obstacle course, and the little zip line, ad the raft that he, Kairi, and Sora had all built before the Heartless had invaded their island.

"Now we know that the raft isn't going to get us to other worlds but we might still go sailing for a little while, our world isn't that big so we would reach our home pretty fast.

"Hey what's that?" I asked, pointing towards a lighter colored object up on top of a small bush that was growing into the side of the island.

"Here I'll show you." Riku said. I followed him up a small hill and across a few of the bushes to where a small star was pinned on top of a branch.

"For our obstacle course we always have to touch this star before we head back to the starting line" he said.

"Oh ok, it's really cool looking. _Now _are you ready to head back?"

"What are you afraid of me?"

"Oh you caught me!" I said with a roll of my eyes

"I hope I don't scare you." Riku said looking worried for a moment. He turned away for a moment before turning back quickly.

"BOO!" he yelled. I didn't even flinch.

"I've seen scarier" I said casually, pretending to exam my nails. Riku smirked before putting one hand against the wall. I eyed his hand, wondering why it had landing so close to my shoulder.

"Hey I need to tell you something"

"I need to tell you something too." I replied.

"What is it?"

"That I needed to tell you something, there I told you."

"Haha" Riku said dryly "But I actually have something serious to say."

"Go right ahead" I said with a wave of my arm

"It's just that…I know I've only known you for like a day but, I really like you." _Shit. Not this. Be strong Lauren. Even if you have to break him and yourself too. Wait what?! Oh god._

"I really like spending time with you and…I feel like I know you, already" I just looked up at him, mentally begging for him to say gotcha! Or just kidding! It didn't come. He gently put his hand on my cheek; it was warm…and comforting. I wanted to put my hands on his and lean my head into his hand and tell him everything. Starting with who I really was. He leaned forward towards me, slowly._ I really do hate myself._ His face was so close now I could see his face perfectly, and his face was completely flawless, perfect. _Ugh I really do have the worst luck! I. Suck! _I lifted up my hand to block his lips, gently. He opened his eyes in shock. _My eyes are the definition of miserable._

"Look Riku, I like you too but-

"Not like that" he finished. There was so much disappointment there it hurt for me to hear it.

"It's just…. You don't know who I am, not really. He grabbed my hand and brought up so that we could both see our hands intertwined with one another's.

"Then show me. Tell me. Tell me so that I know all about you."

"I will Riku. I really will" his eyes widened with surprise. _Wait! I haven't dropped the bomb yet!_

"But I know you will hate me when I do" I finished. _Aahhh there it is. BOOM!!_

"What? I would _never_ hate you."

"I'm not gonna charge you for that later" I said glumly. "Can we go back now?" Riku nodded

"Sure."

"Hey Riku"

"Yeah"

"I'm glad you're my friend, and I won't tell anyone about this"

"Thanks" I gently slid my hand out of his before heading back to where the party was, a party full of happy people with no idea what just happened. I felt a weird feeling in my heart. I was surprised I could even feel my heart. Surely it isn't that strong? It shouldn't be. Riku fell into step behind me, not saying a word. I could tell his eyes were full of pain though, because that's what I did. I caused pain, one way or another.

**Aaawwww so sad! Seriously I almost started crying while I was writing this. Don't worry Riku won't be sad too long! But he will become unsad in a way you wouldn't expect…Haha mysterious! Yeah so this chapter was long and sad. I'm not sure how long my next chapter will be. Probably shorter than this one. The next chapter does explain a lot though so keep checking in! Review please! I have no reviews so far so be special and be the first to review! (Please?)**


	6. Malnutrition and the Other Half

By the time Riku and I got back to the party I was really starting to feel strange and it was really starting to bother me. Sora was the first one to notice our return.

"Oh there you two lovebirds are! Did you enjoy yourselves?" he said mischievously, eyes gleaming. I flinched. _Poor Riku._ Finally my vocal chords and my brain decided the nausea was too much to ignore silently anymore.

"I think I'm gonna be sick" I said, clutching my stomach. Riku was the only one who didn't completely crack up. _They are all idiots._

"Nothing happened- We don't like each other like that." Riku explained. I mentally cringed at the half lie he just told.

"She doesn't like you because you're the world's worst kisser!" Tidus said. _Ouch._

"I'm gonna be sick because I haven't eaten in three freaking months you dumbass!" I yelled. Everyone looked at me, their faces all shocked.

"That's impossible. No one can survive that long without food" Kairi said. _Well then maybe this is what being on your deathbed is like._ And then right on cue I passed out-_again._

_*Flashback…kind of*_

"_Who wants crab?" _

"_Not me!"_

"_Haha suit yourself- I'm gonna go eat!"_

"_Enjoy"_

"_Oh I will"_

"_I'm gonna be sick because I haven't eaten in three freaking months you dumbass!"_

"_That's impossible. No one can survive that long without food"_

_Eating was just an annoying chore that I had to complete from time to time. Nothing essential, I probably hadn't eaten in three months give or take a few weeks. I didn't need to eat when we were one person….._

_But now I'm one person….does this mean I will die in negative time, that I've already died as just Lauren, that I can only live when we are together because being alone means I'm dead? I don't know…._

**If you die I will find you in the afterlife and kick your ass, you know that right?**

_Yeah_

**Then wake up!**

_*End sort of Flashback*_

It felt like I had been hit in the face with something invisible, I felt like I was shoved back into consciousness, my eyes being forced open. _I owe her one. _

"_Now _would you like some crab?" Riku asked.

"Sure why not?" I said.

"Well I'll think about it." he said. Then he got hit over the head by Kairi.

"Riku just give her the damn food before she passes out again!" _You have no idea how deserved another trip into unconsciousness would be right now._ Riku sat down the plate of food right next to me. I sat up and carefully took a bite of crab. It tasted delicious. _Good._ While I continued to eat like I hadn't eaten in three months (_Haha)_ everyone else began to calm down and went back to enjoying the party. By the time I was full, which was very unusual feeling for me, I had eaten 5 crab legs, a ton of fruit, a plate of chips and pretzels, and 2 smoothies.

"Someone's a little hungry huh?" Tidus said, sitting down next to me. Misery Business was playing on the radio and Selphie was doing karaoke with Sora, Wakka, and Kairi cheering her on. Riku was…well, I didn't know where Riku was.

"These smoothies are great!" I said, grabbing my 3rd off a small table.

"You know Wakka and I spiked those right?" he asked casually. I spit out my mouthful of smoothie

"You did what?!" I cried._ I can not get drunk! What if I say something I shouldn't? And there's a lot of stuff I shouldn't say._

"Haha I'm only joking Lauren. You're so gullible."

"That's not funny!" I sobbed, dropping the smoothie and turning away from him, "My dad died in a drunk driving accident! You think I _want _to be thinking about alcohol right now?!" I turned and started down the bridge.

"Hey I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Tidus said, running after me. He caught up to me once I reached the shack, grabbing my arm. "I'm really sorry about your dad." He said. I smiled

"Who's the gullible one now?" I asked with a grin.

"You're horrible!" he exclaimed.

"You like it?"

"Haha whatever helps you sleep at night." Tidus smiled. 'So nothing when on between you and Riku huh"

"Nope, not a thing"

Then Tidus eyed the shack. _Ok now I'm nervous. Uh-oh_

"Can I show you something?" he asked me, before gesturing towards the shack. The thought of going into a dark shack alone with Tidus made me worried, not that I was going to let him do anything I didn't want him to but still, it would be bad.

"I don't know- I think we should head back. It's colder over here." I fake shivered for affect.

"Don't worry; I don't think that'll bother you for long." Before I could protest anymore I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"I think Lauren's about done with walks at night with guys- people might get the wrong idea" _Riku! *insert hero theme music here*_ Riku slipped his hand into mine and pulled me towards the island. He turned back

"Are you coming Tidus?" he called, like he hadn't any clue of what Tidus had been planning. Tidus glared at Riku for a moment before starting his walk back towards the party, a few steps behind us.

"Tidus is one forward little bastard, just for the record" he whispered to me.

"Oh really, I hadn't noticed" I replied sarcastically. "Thanks" I added

"Wow I can't believe it! You really _can _thank people. It's amazing!"

"Yeah, yeah don't get used to it" I said before slipping my hand out of his and heading over to where everyone else was gathered.

"Hey we are gonna start serving cake you three! So get over here now!" Selphie yelled energetically _I can practically see here shaking from the enormity of her sugar high. I wonder what all __**was**__ in those smoothies…_

"You get to do the honors!" Sora said, handing me the cutting knife.

"Well what a surprise" I said and everyone laughed. I did a few quick moves with the knife, including a few tosses into the air and a few cutting motions across the air.

"Ta-da!" I said, before handing Sora back the knife.

"Uh we were kind of expecting you to cut the cake…" he said uncertainly

"You guys have bad eyesight! Look down!" I replied with a laugh. Everyone looked down and, to their surprise; the cake was cleanly cut into seven pieces, one for each of us. The chorus of No ways! And how did you do that's?! And you have to show me how to do that's! That followed were music to my ears. _Oh yeah, I'm good._

About an hour and a half later everything from the party was packed up and loaded onto the boats, everyone ready to head home for the night. Everyone said good night to me as they got into their boats and people started to head off. Riku had to stay a little later because it was his turn to put all the tiki torches into the water to cool and to check the island to be sure nobody forgot anything, at least, that's what he told me. I headed back to my little shack/ home where Riku met me. He opened the door and smiled

"As promised!" he said proudly. I gasped. _Awesome, totally effing awesome._ In front of me were an air mattress, three blankets, and a pillow.

"Thanks Riku! Man all I said was like a blanket or something! I like the color coordination of everything."

"Thanks. The style is called 'what I pulled out of the closet'!" We both shared a laugh before I plopped down on the air mattress; trying it out to be sure it was all the way inflated. It was an air mattress that could easily fit two people.

"Sweet" I said

"So is everything ok?" Riku asked

"Perfect, hey do you wanna try out the air mattress for yourself? It's pretty comfy"

"Yeah so are beds with like, real mattresses. And I just so happen to have one with my name on it waiting for at home." Riku replied

"Lucky bastard" I muttered. He laughed

"You know we could find you a way to live here on the island right?"

"I can't stay in one place for too long- it bothers me. I like seeing new places, an ever changing view" I lied. _What I wouldn't give to able to stay here in heaven that isn't really heaven._

"Well I'm gonna head out. Don't forget- your explaining yourself to me tomorrow!" Riku said in a you-are-in-trouble voice

"Haha I won't forget. Say good bye to everyone for me ok?"

"Sure" Riku said before heading out the door. I sighed, _why am I doing this?_ I got up and ran out the door. Riku turned around just as I embraced him.

"I'm really sorry for tonight. I really, really am Riku!" I said sadly. Riku gave my shoulder a squeeze before backing up so he could look me in the eyes.

"It's ok, I'll be fine. _Really"_ I nodded uncertainly

"Ok….well good night Riku" I said with a wave before turning back to the shack

"Good night" I heard him whisper

When I got into the shack I found her lounging on the air bed.

"**Took you long enough." she said, obviously annoyed. "I think I'm gonna be sick with all this crap. Oh Riku! Oh Lauren! Oh Riku! Oh Lauren-**

"_Shut up! By the way your two are going to be introduced tomorrow so I'd start working on the nice side of your personality"_

"**I don't have a nice side to my personality- that's your half"**

"_Oh well you're just going to have to try. No smiling by the way"_

"**Shit"**

"_What do you have against people?"_

"**I'm not a people person" she replied, like it was the most simple and obvious thing ever.**

"_Well this person is going to bed. Good night people"_

"**Good night person"**_  
_

"Wake up. Sora and Kairi and everyone else are here, they all wanted to say good bye, and I hope you don't mind explaining to them who you are too." Riku's gentle voice was not good for awakening.

**What did he just say?**

_Awe dammit_

"I don't wanna explain. It was kinda supposed to be a secret in the first place. I can't tell anyone except the people I have to tell." I told him wearily. My panic was helping me wake up quicker than usual but not quickly enough for her apparently.

**Get up Get up Get up!!! We have a big problem! Get! Up!!**

………………

**Lazy bitch**

_I am not lazy_

**Then get up**

_Fine_

I sat up wearily to see Sora standing there too, right next to Riku.

"You heard everything I said didn't you." I asked him

"Yup I did and don't worry! We can all keep a secret! No one will know" Sora said calmly._ Ugh_

"I'm not leaving until I explain this to everyone huh." I said

"No you are not! The Keyblade Master commands it!" Sora said, his voice getting all deep at the keyblade master part.

**Well this Keyblade Master's other half is gonna whoop your ass here in a second!**

_I'm gonna have to explain that too huh. Awe shit this is gonna a long day_

"Ok you two scram-I'm gonna get ready then I will explain this whole damn secret to you nosy idiots, you guys will get pissed, and then I'm gone." I said. Sora looked confused but Riku murmured something about "again with the hating and being pissed off"

**Hooray for positive attitudes! **

_Oh shut up you're gonna have to talk too!_

**You suck**

_Yes you do! Now that I've gotten my pep talk for the day we should probably figure out __**how **__we are going to explain this._

**Oh please, I spent the night working on it**

_Hmmm not bad. Ok fine. It looks like I'm going to have to handle the keyblade part on my own though huh? _

**I will have nothing to do with that damn blade**

_I figured_

I got ready and headed out of the shack where I was greeted by a way too bright sun and six sad/excited teens. They were sad that I was leaving but excited because well, who doesn't like learning some big secret? Certainly not any of these people. I stood in front of them, feeling like some sort of speaker and well, began speaking.

"So you guys all know I'm leaving today and, thanks to Riku, you are all going to know exactly who I am here in about an hour. I have a lot of explaining. Just a little P.S. - I will leave once I'm done and don't attack me, I'll hurt you" Everyone laughed at that

**I don't think they understood that quite right**

_Well they will here in a second. Here goes nothing_

**Literally**

_Literally_

I closed my eyes and felt as half of me left my body. I opened my eyes to see shocked faces and a shimmering shadow to my right. Then the shadow took on a form. Selphie and Kairi passed out immediately. Riku collapsed to his knees. Sora put his hands on his forehead and groaned. Tidus and Wakka both seemed to be in shock. I looked at my other half.

"Can you wake them up? They should hear this too." I said, gesturing to Selphie and Kairi

"Sure" she said.

"Don't touch them!" Sora said, finding his voice, barely.

"Sure thing" she replied with a flick of her wrist. Kairi and Selphie immediately came back to consciousness.

"What the- How did you…" Sora stammered.

"We'll explain everything. Don't worry." I replied, keeping my voice calm and steady. Sora just looked at me in disbelief.

"Oh my god" Kairi gasped, looking at the two of us, standing in front of everyone. Selphie whimpered and Tidus put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Well everyone, this is Fury" I said, pointing to my other half. She looked up and held her right hand up, moving four of her fingers back and forth a few times before going back to examining her nails._ Yeah this is going to be a complete disaster. _I sighed; well I guess I'd better get started.

**Complete. Total. Cliffhanger. Yeah I know and I'm sorry. Mainly because I'm not going to be able to update my story for at least a week-I'm going on vacation. Well things are finally starting to get good and I do have Fury all planned out so when I get back I should be able to put together a nice long chapter! Sorry that I had to post this right before I left! Review please! Oh yeah and Thank you times one million to my 1****st**** reviewer: Crazyfrog41! And thank you times 500,000 to my second reviewer Erika! I now have 2 whole reviews and am psyched! Thanks to everyone who read my story and please review! I want to know what you all think of my story so far!**


	7. A New Hatred

_*Riku*_

_I would call it a bad dream, but I'm not this twisted. _If I had been drugged then why was everything so crystal clear? If I was completely sober and fully conscious then why did the girl I tried to kiss just have something so horribly terrifying come out of her, like it was her Nobody or something? Fury that was her so called name. I guess it's about the best you can do to describe her, or what you would expect her to be. _Night mares for one month please! No who the hell am I kidding? Nightmares for the rest of my effing life is more like it._ I would gladly be possessed by Xehanort's Heartless again, or fight Xemnas, or go through Kingdom Hearts, through the door to darkness, to fight endless shadows. Anything but this. How could the girl I cared so much about be _this_?! I fully took it in, examining this creature in front of me, noting her terrifying appearance. She had long black hair that ended in bright red. Her bangs were also bright red and covered one eye. _Scary feature number 1 please: _Her eyes matched her hair, the bright red part that is. Her eyes were blood red, with vertical pupils. She had red, cat slit eyes. She seemed to take everything there was to see in and more, like she could see things that I couldn't. Her skin was pale, like she shunned the very idea of sunlight. Her physique was identical to Lauren's. She was her height, and probably her weight too. The only difference seemed to be that she had painted black nails. Her veins weren't anymore noticeable then anyone's in the way they appeared, except that her veins were a deep purple. Like something other than blood flowed through them. She wore a simple black tank top with a strange symbol on it. It was a heart in the same design as the heartless symbol but the inside of the heart was black like her tank top and the outline was red.

**The mark of the Dark Beings, in case you wanted to know.**

I gasped, _who was in my head?!_

**The girl with the red eyes who goes by Fury**

I looked up to her eyes to see that she wasn't even looking at me.

**I don't need to. Well, I'll leave you alone for a little while. Let the visions grow more horrendous and then I will put you out of your misery and tell you the facts. Yes, your fear amuses me. Guess your sweet and innocent blue-eyed girl wasn't so sweet and innocent after all. She's killed people you know. So have I.**

_Get out of my head_

**Fine, fine**

I opened my eyes and waited, half expecting her to say something else. She didn't._ What the hell was that?!_ I didn't get an answer, thankfully, so I went back to noting Fury's appearance. I avoided making eye contact with her, as if that would convince her I wasn't as scared as she thought. Because I was as scared as she thought, maybe more.

She had on a black skirt that was slashed diagonally, the shortest point being around the middle of her thigh and the longest part being just past her knee. The skirt was torn at the edges, like it had been burned. I could barely see the corner of a pair of black shorts that came a little past the shortest point of her skirt. It was a weird outfit but somehow I didn't think she really cared how she looked. She also had on a pair of black Goth boots, almost knee high with the classic silver buckles. In her right hand was a black sword with a red hilt. The blade seemed to crackle with a blackish form of lightning, probably some form of darkness that she had power over. _She did say she was a Dark Being. Whatever that is._ The sword tip looked deadly. There was a whooshing sound and a gasp from somebody and all of a sudden Fury had wings coming out of her back. Yes, wings. _Well of course she has freaking wings! I mean, doesn't everybody?! _I officially decided that I was going into a panic attack. Her wings were both covered in feathers, the left wing was pure white, and the right wing was pure black. I would guess the wingspan was somewhere between thirteen and fourteen feet. I understood the black wing, but the white one confused me. It didn't look like she had an ounce of light in her and white symbolized just that.

**Both my wings were black until Lauren came.**

_That makes no sense at all whatsoever. Now go away._

**You're no fun**

My head was mine again and I looked at her in the eyes, momentarily swallowing my fear. Of course I all but puked it back up when she smiled. Her smile was the creepiest thing ever. Probably because people like her weren't meant to smile, but mostly because the pair of fangs that were revealed. Sharp white fangs that were pure white, like the rest of her teeth. Lauren looked at Fury and something passed between them, only then did I realize that they probably could mentally talk to each other too. _Hell, they were probably the same person a lot of the time._ The thought put shivers down my spine.

"Well that's about it on appearance." Lauren said before clapping her hands together. "I guess I should go ahead and explain now."

"Leave." All heads turned to Sora, who was glaring at Lauren. "I don't want to know, none of us do. I just want you to leave and never come back to this place."

"Well hate to burst your bubble Spiky but you're the reason we came here, and we can't really leave until we explain. The fate of all the worlds depends on it." Fury said, acting completely casual. Everyone was in shock from that but I was the first to recover.

"You leave Sora alone" I said, stepping in front of him and summoning my blade. Fury looked amused.

"Don't laugh or I will stab you." Lauren said to Fury, who just shrugged

"Fine" she said, turning her attention back to me.

"As if you, Mr. Silver Haired Bastard, could even do the slightest bit of damage to _me._ You have no idea who I am, but I can give you a hint." She leaned forward and whispered one word to me that I immediately knew was true

"_Unstoppable _"andas if to prove it she snapped her fingers and I collapsed to ground, writhing in pain.

"Leave him alone!" Lauren shouted. A silver and black blade appeared in her hand and she lunged at Fury, who blocked the attack with her blade, her concentration broken. The pain faded and immediately I was asked by a few people if I was ok. I nodded before standing up. Lauren and Fury had stopped fighting already and were looking back towards our little group. Lauren looked Sora in the eyes; her two sentences making my blood run cold.

"I'm a Keyblade Master too Sora, that's why I came here. I need your help if we are going to protect the worlds from being overrun by darkness" _Damn. _Lauren removed the small keychain from her blade and the Keyblade, in all its gold and silver glory, appeared. There was something about blades that made it easy to tell when one was a fake blade. But this wasn't, no mistaking.

"It was told that one generation, and one generation only, would give birth to not one but two Key bearers and their actions would decide the fate of the worlds forever." _And she was one of them? This Lauren/ Fury disaster?! Fuck. _Lauren looked at me

"That wasn't very nice"

"Oh so you can hear me too?!" I asked angrily. I felt hatred stronger than any other hatred I'd ever had rise up in me. I wanted to kill her. "Well of course! You can just say things into my mind and we just have a great talk without anyone knowing! We could've had one at any point in the last 48 hours and not even once did you think to tell me, or any of us, who the fucking hell you were?! Instead just made us think you were who you weren't! You lied and pretended and you were just going to leave without telling any of us?!You just let us believe a lie. People like you shouldn't even exist! I don't know what the hell you are but you aren't normal. You're some sort of freak of nature, you're like a Nobody. You have no right to exist."

"I was going to tell _you_." She whispered, before shaking her head, obviously realizing that was pointless now. "I probably shouldn't exist." She looked at me and dropped the Keyblade. "So go ahead and kill me, its what I deserve. I don't want to be in pain anymore"

I sneered at her "Like I would give you the satisfaction of finally being free." She dropped her head and sighed.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to get out of it that easily. No one will kill you and I won't let you kill us so you're pretty much stuck." Fury said. Lauren nodded sadly

"I guess you're right" she mumbled sadly.

"Of course I am" she replied

"You explain, I can't do it"

"Whatever"

**Ok everyone listen up. My Other is being a lazy bitch, again-**

_I'm not lazy_

Judging from the looks on other peoples faces they could hear what I could too. It sounded like Fury was going to mentally tell us what the hell was going on. And apparently Lauren didn't consider herself lazy, _like I give a damn._

**Anyways, I'm going to tell you about me. Me as in Fury. Lauren can explain Lauren later. This will be boring. For me anyway. Ok so the symbol on my shirt is the sign of a Dark Being which is what I am. Dark Beings are the parallel of your heart in that the more light your heart contains the stronger your dark being is. Everyone with a strong enough heart has a dark being. Unless of course you're a Princess of Heart. They don't have Dark Beings. I know for a fact that Sora and Riku have dark beings although Riku's sucks because he has like 0 light in his heart.**

_Stop picking on Riku._

**Like he wants you defending him.**

It was true; Lauren and her defense could go to hell for all I cared. I also realized Fury had just told everyone that I had been lying when I said I was handling the darkness in my heart and that it was barely even there anymore. I had been lying, which just made everything worse.

**Anyways on to the next thing. Yes, my eyes are red. Congrats to Tidus for figuring that out. You don't look like the kind of person who would know their colors.**

_Stop picking on Tidus. Don't pick on anyone._

**Like I said, they don't want you defending you. They all hate you. Riku hates you the most. **

**My eyes give me the ability to see in pitch black as if it were a sunny day outside. I can also target people's weak spots and I can see the exact locations of all the pressure points in the human body which makes it easier to kill people.**

_Did you have to mention the killing part?_

**Are you done interrupting? Why don't you just listen like everyone else? Anyways I can also see if a person wields some sort of weapon and then all the specifics of the weapon plus its appearance. Also if someone gets hurt I can see exactly where they were hit. Not that I ever use that last ability - my anyways. Oh and I can also see people's emotions. Next up are my wings. I use them to fly….very quickly. Ok next one. I have no blood. Instead I have venom. That's where the fangs come in. No I'm not a vampire. Yes I bite people with my fangs which poisons them and gives them about 5 seconds to live. There is no cure for the venom either so if you are poisoned, you're screwed. No I don't suck people's blood either and no Selphie I don't sparkle in the sunlight like the vampires from Twilight. I am very good at hand-to-hand fighting so no luck there anyone who wants to find my weakness. That isn't it. Finally I have my black sword which is indestructible and cannot be used by anyone but me. It's filled to the brim with the power of darkness which makes it very, very dangerous. Yeah the tip is very sharp and can cut you if you even use the slightest amount of pressure on it. Ok second to last thing- I have one weakness and it's that I can't heal worth a damn. I rely on potions. I'm only telling you this because I'm probably going to be fighting with you, yes with you, for quite a while. Assuming you all want to save the worlds. You are all free to come. Its free admission so congrats. Finally, I am the most powerful Dark Being there has ever been. **

_*Lauren*_

_Riku hated me the most? Well that's unexpected. But I'll take the hatred like a big girl and deal with it. I probably won't survive this journey anyway so it's not a big deal. Everyone who is coming on this journey will just have to trust that Fury and I won't murder them in their sleep._

**Finally I'm the most powerful Dark Being there ever has been.**

_Good you're done._

**Yup**

"So…now what? I'm guessing you guys are all coming with me and Lauren and Fury to help save the worlds right?" Sora asked. Everyone nodded their heads.

"To the gummi ship then. Kairi can you write a quick note to all of our parents saying we haven't died?" he asked. Kairi nodded and headed over to the shack where I assumed they had paper and a pencil or something that you can write with. Everyone else headed towards a small opening in the ground that led into a small tunnel. I grabbed Fury's hand and we quickly combined into one form, before following the others into the small tunnel.

"This way." Selphie said, offering me her hand after I ran into the wall.

"I know its kind of hard to see and I always ran into stuff before I memorized the way through here- don't worry we are almost there." She said reassuringly. I took her hand and decided I liked Selphie the most right then.

**Why don't you just let your eyes turn red? We are the same person again so naturally you can do that.**

_I'm trying to get these peoples trust back! Or at least get on their good sides._

**Well good luck with that. Mainly Riku, he hates you with a burning passion**

_That's too bad. Well I'm no stranger to hate so I'll be fine but he's just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it._

**Because we don't wanna have to deal with his moody shit!**

_Right!_

Just then the tunnel opened up into a room that was just big enough for all of us to stand in. The walls were covered in different drawings. Directly across the room was a door that had a golden glowing outline. I leaned forward hungrily.

**The Heart if Destiny Islands.**

_That would be something- ugh dammit! It's getting to me again_

**The old instinct. Although it isn't instinct, just way things worked down there.**

_You were down there too long._

**Your fault.**

Riku must've noticed me eyeing the door and shot me an evil glare. I ignored it but I did look away from the door. Sora aimed his Keyblade at a rock, unaware of the tension in the air. Stars gathered at the tip of his Keyblade and a keyhole appeared on the rock. A thin blue stream of light came out of the Keyblade and hit the keyhole in the rock and a clicking sound was heard. There was a rumbling sound before the entire wall moved aside, revealing a cleverly hidden gummi ship.

"Everybody on board" Sora said before heading up the ramp. "By the way I'm driving, no one else. The only other person allowed to touch the controls is Riku, and that's only to man the weapons of we run into some trouble.

"Oh wait-there's something I forgot to mention." I said. Everyone looked at me, each face with a different emotion."Everyone here with a Nobody have their Nobodies, AKA Sora and Kairi. Everyone except Riku, who lost his heart when he was possessed by Xehanort's Heartless. His Nobody faded into darkness before they could combine to form one person like Sora and Roxas or Kairi and Namine. I'm going to go into the realm of darkness and find Riku's Nobody because we need him. We need all the help we can get."

"I'm coming with you." Riku said

"You don't even know who your Nobody is!" I said no way was Riku coming with me into the realm of darkness. That just screamed bad idea.

"And you do?" he asked

"Well duh how the hell would I find him otherwise?!"

"I'm sure Fury's magical eyes could find him" he said sarcastically

**That isn't a compliment is it?**

_Not at all_

**He's still Silver Haired Bastard**

"Your Nobody is Axel. Number 8 of Organization XIII" I told him. He didn't seem surprised.

"I'm coming with you"

"I'll see you guys on the ship! Be back in a couple hours with Axel!" I said before stepping back into a dark portal. I made extra care to close it before Riku could get through.


	8. An Unwanted Roommate

**Hi again sorry I didn't put a note on my last chapter (I forgot). So anyways I know have 5 reviews! (Thank you very much!)(Hooray!) So sorry I was gone for week but I'm hoping to get another chapter **_**after**_** this one up in a day or two to make up for the time I was gone. Enjoy!**

_*Fury*_

**A trip to the realm of darkness is always so refreshing.**

_For you anyways_

"Well whatever. Should I bore you with usual we are the same person speech?" I asked, choosing to speak out loud that way the spiky brunette, whatever his name was, Sory or Sonny or Saro or whatever, would know that we were there. It was 1:00 in the morning and he was still manning the controls like a good little captain. It was ironic how the kid who acted like he was 5 years old with the IQ of a 2 year old would be the so called leader of this mission

"Hey Saro we are back!" no response…at all…whatsoever.

"Maybe he's asleep?" Lauren said.

"If he's asleep then how is he driving huh my little blond friend?" Lauren rolled her eyes. Axel and me/her/us went way back but we had both forgotten how annoying he was sometimes. Axel stepped through the dark portal just before it faded and he clearly came into view. Besides the fact that he was transparent he looked just about the same. Red hair that had probably never been brushed it was so impossibly spiky-bed head was the only logical conclusion, or tubes and tubes of hair gel, emerald green eyes that probably were caused by contacts- could Nobodies even wear contacts? And then there were those bizarre markings under his eyes. At the sound of Axel's voice Whatshisname whipped his head around.

"Axel" he said excitedly, and for a moment I could see the Roxas side of him take control, literally. I have never regretted my eyes, ever. Like I give a damn what color they are they are as useful as hell.

_And what is the use of hell?_

**Do seriously want me to tell you?**

_No I don't_

"Hey Sora and Roxas! My little buddy, err, _buddies" _Axel said, momentarily confused at the strange prospect of a whole person, complete with Nobody and all.

"Axel you sound like you are talking to a few little kids!" Lauren said with a laugh

"Oh but I am" he replied with a grin. Axel's humor was the one thing that I hadn't forgotten.

"Hey how are you smiling? You don't have a heart yet do you?" Whatshisname who apparently was named Sora/Roxas asked. **Well that's pretty straightforward. I can practically see Roxas jumping up and down.**

"You should let Roxas become his own person before he pees himself" I advised Sora. He looked confused. **So he is as stupid as he looks.**

**He's been united with his Nobody for months and he doesn't even know how to separate himself from him.**

_That's the first thing you taught me._

**Because who wants to be you all the time?**

**Ouch. Haha-wait why am I laughing? I don't laugh. I hate being around people with real emotions.** So now we are one big happy, well, unhappy family. Great

"Just close your eyes and let him go." Lauren told Sora. Sora did what she said and slowly a boy emerged from him, transparent at first but he eventually solidified into a person, err, Nobody…with a heart. So then he's a….?

This so called Roxas had blondish hair that was styled impossibly, more bed head and/or hair gel probably, with blue eyes that matched Sora's, and a smiling face that bothered me.

"Axel…." The boy said happily. They high fived but when their hands met Axel sort of faded and then came back, like his body had just gone through a power surge or something.

"I guess the reunion will have to wait. Axel and Riku need to become one person soon or Axel will just fade away again."

"Ok see you later buddy." Roxas said with a wave, before fading back into Sora's body.

"That was weird… hey your transparent!" Sora said pointing at Axel frantically. **Wow. Just wow.**

"Thank you for your insight genius because we never would've figured it out on our own" I said with a roll of my blood red eyes.

"Hey I'm tired ok! I've been steering this ship for hours waiting for you guys so I could put it on auto pilot! Plus its 1:00 in the morning!"

"It's not that late" I said with a wave of my hand

"Easy for you to say since you never sleep!"

"How do you know that?" I asked sharply, I don't recall mentioning that in my little speech.

"I told him" my blond other half said.

"Anything else you left out?" Sora asked angrily. **Oh stop male PMSing!**

"Actually yes" I told him, enjoying the look that crossed his face.

"Like what?" he asked cautiously

"I'll just tell everyone tomorrow so I don't have to explain it ten times" I told him. He just shrugged.

"Ok next stop Riku's room!" Lauren said "By the way- where's our room?"

"With Riku" Sora said uncomfortably

"With who?" Lauren asked angrily

"Well you see there are three rooms that have bunk beds and one room with a one large bed- for the captain of the ship. I'm the official captain and the door does an automatic eye scan to be sure it's actually the captain before opening the door. I was going to just bunk with Riku since you were the extra girl and I figured you should have your own room."

"Go on" I told him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I can't get the door to change its scanner to match someone else's eyes so it'll only let me in and out of the room"

"Oh for the love of God" I yelled. **This is so stupid and annoying! The stupid idiot is a Keyblade Bearer and he can't even figure out how to re-program a stupid door?! Ugh I hate people!**

"So you're telling me that we have to share a room with Silver Haired Bastard because you can't figure out how re-program a damn door?!" I yelled. Sora nodded nervously. "Great. This is just fucking great!" I said hysterically. I wasn't sure why it was bothering so much but then I realized I wasn't the half that was so bothered.

**What are you being shy? Speak up**

_But you're doing such a great job already…._

**Whatever**

"Well where is our effing room then?" I asked angrily

"Down the hall second door on your right" Sora said before turning around and switching the ship onto autopilot.

"You should get some sleep too Sora" Lauren advised him

"I will it just takes a minute or two for the ship's auto pilot to fully kick in" he explained

"Whatever, come on Axel" Lauren said before turning to head down the hall. I took about two steps before Sora called out my name, like me specifically.

"While you were in the realm of darkness how many Heartless did you slay, if any at all?" he asked me

"5,000 neoshadows exactly, and 6,000 shadows" I replied, his eyes looked worried.** You better be ready for us you stupid idiot.** I turned around and followed Lauren and Axel down the hallway. At the second door on our right Lauren stopped, there was a small speaker. Lauren pressed the record button and said her name into it, hesitantly, like she wasn't sure if that's what she was supposed to do. It apparently was because the door chimed a computerized _Welcome_ and the silver door slid open. The room was small, with a bunk bed against the right side of the room and a closet stretching across the entire left side. There was a line drawn down the middle of the closet. I sniffed the air; the smell of Sharpie was still pretty obvious.

_Someone likes their privacy_

**Someone needs to stop acting like a little girl, suck it up and deal with it!**

_You're talking about Riku right?_

**No. I'm talking about Silver Haired Bastard**

_Of course._

"Well I guess we better wake him up then" Lauren whispered. I pushed a button and the door behind us slid shut. The room was a bit darker but the light of the distant worlds that we traveled by left a dim light in the room. Of course, I could make out everything in the room perfectly. Lauren held out her hand.

"He would have a panic attack" she whispered when I raised my eyebrow. **That's exactly what I want to happen.** Nevertheless, I grabbed her hand and felt myself fade into her body. Once we were one person again we/me/her/I turned to Axel.

"We aren't going to be waking him up gently and quietly are we?" I asked anxious for the answer that I knew was coming.

"Oh hell no" Axel said mischievously, his eyes glinting in the dim light.

'Well I can't argue with the Nobody of the guy who we are about to wake up." I said with a small smile. Axel summoned up his chakrams. **Oh this'll be good. **

**Yeah sorry- this one was a bit shorter than my last one (well my last one was my longest so naturally it would be shorter). Ooohhh what is Axel gonna do to poor Riku? I'm pretty sure I already know but am welcome to suggestions! (If I use your idea I will put that in my authors note) Review please!**


	9. Nightmares and Dreamscapes

**Hey everyone sorry it took me so long to update. This was a pretty important chapter and I didn't want to mess it up. Special thanks to young gun kid! I mixed my Riku prank idea in with his/her's. I now have 7 reviews! (We are really getting into the big numbers now huh? Almost double digits) Enjoy!**

_*Riku*_

"BURN BABY!" the loud yell woke me up just before I felt pain running through my, well, lets just say Axel is cruel. I gasped and sat up straight to see my Nobody and Lauren standing right in front of my bed. I apparently surprised Lauren because she jumped back, running right into Axel. They both fell down together and I finally got the chance to laugh.

"That's what you get!" I told them before yawning. Maybe it was just my imagination but it looked like something was sticking of Lauren's stomach. I pointed a finger towards her as she stood up. She noticed my finger and raised an eyebrow questioningly. She looked down at her stomach and sighed.

"Can I get a little help here?" she asked. Fury emerged from her body and I felt goose bumps on my arms. She turned side-ways and tried to turn her head to see her back. I almost screamed. Sticking out of her back was one of Axel's chakrams. Fury came up behind and pulled it out before tossing it to Axel.

"Thanks" Axel said casually. Lauren put a hand on her stomach and I got sight of something that looked grossly like green blood seeping out between her fingers.

"BURN BABY!" I shot up and yelled in pain.

"What the hell?" I shouted, coming face to face with a non-injured Lauren. Only then did I realize that I had just had my first nightmare of many. Lauren looked at me and laughed.

"What did you do?" I snarled at her before hitting her over the head and jumping out bed.

"Ouch! Hey blame your Nobody not me!"she said angrily. I replied by hitting her again. Fury emerged from her, looking angry.

"Watch it Silver Haired Bastard" she growled before summoning up her black sword. I summoned the Way to the Dawn before Lauren jumped in between us. I lunged forward anyways at the same time Fury did. There was flash of light and I realized that she had blocked my blade with a form of the Keyblade called Two Across and had blocked Fury's sword with the Ultima Weapon.

"Everyone go back to your Others and go to bed!" she glared at me like this was my entire fault. I glared right back at her.

"It looks like I'm sharing a room with you" she said before grabbing Fury's hand, and heading over the bottom bunk, the bed which I hadn't taken. I grabbed Axel's hand and felt his power flow into me. I opened my eyes before jumping back into my bed and rolling over angrily._ I hate Sora for not being able to re-program that door._

_*Lauren*_

_Riku looks hot without his shirt on…._

**WHAT?**

_What the fuck?_

**Are you sick?**

_I think so!_

**Good otherwise you would be in pain**

I disconnected the small pouch of potions I carried with me from the belt loop on my pants and set it down directly across from bed. I slid into my bed before realizing I was just going to have to get out again. I got back out bed and let Fury come out of my body.

"What the hell are you doing?" Riku asked grumpily. _Someone's a big fan of 12 hours of sleep per day._

"I can't sleep while Fury and I am the same person." I explained.

"Then leave so I can finally get some sleep!" he replied. Fury opened her mouth to most likely make some mean comment but I covered her mouth with my hand._ I hate being the peace maker here._

"I'm not about to go to sleep with Miss Murder in the same room." Riku said_ Stop being a wimp and suck it up!_

"Miss Murder? Hmmm…..I like that" Fury said thoughtfully, Riku just rolled his eyes. "Why don't I just go up to the controls and be sure nothing comes and tries to kill us?" Fury said before heading out of the room, not waiting for an answer.

"She's so annoying" Riku said angrily

"You're annoying too! Why can't you just suck it up and deal with instead of acting like a rich, spoiled little girl! Everyone else seems to be dealing with this fairly well except for you! You're the one who's being the most difficult!"

"No one else has to share a room with you!" he yelled back.

"Dammit Riku why can't you just deal with things in silence for once? Why do you always have to make yourself heard? Yelling in my face about how much you hate me isn't going to change a thing so you might as well just shut the hell up!" I angrily punched the wall and heard three cracking sounds. "Fuck" I said before heading over to my little bag of potions. I gently straightened and pulled out my index, middle, and ring finger, each finger making a small clicking sound as I did so, before taking a small sip of one of the potions. My fingers were momentarily surrounded by little green orbs before returning to normal. I sighed; potions always had a relaxing feeling.

"What did you do?" Riku asked

"I broke three of my fingers punching that stupid wall _and_ I suffered in silence- unlike you!" I replied. Riku stared at me for a moment before cracking up.

"What's so funny?" I yelled at him

"You broke your fingers on a wall" Riku said, he looked hysterical right then. I punched him in the face and felt a satisfying crack when I broke his nose._ Fury's gonna be so mad that she missed this!_

"Hey what's your- Riku stopped suddenly. _Suffer in silence._ Riku looked absolutely murderous but he kept his mouth shut, determined not to be out done. I started laughing when the blood seeped through his hands. Riku went over to my potions and took a gulp out of one of them.

"Hey those are mine!" I said

"I know- why do you think I used them?" he asked

"Son of bitch. Go to bed you PMSing asshole" I told him.

"That's what I've been trying to do for a while now!" he said before climbing up into his bed and rolling over so his back was facing me. I rolled my eyes. _If Sora acts like a 5 year old then Riku is maybe a 4 year old._ I got into my bed and quickly fell asleep.

_The rain beat against my face and my breathing was heavy. More neoshadows charged towards me. I quickly dispatched them with a few quick slashes of my two favorite weapons- they were both identical, having three silver prongs with deadly tips, the prong in the middle being a bit longer then the two on the outsides of the weapon. The handles were black with a gleaming red gem in the middle. I had always liked coming to the World That Never Was for fighting but this time I was here for something more important. He was here. A flash of lightning illuminated a form that was standing on top of the Memory's Skyscraper. Slashing through Heartless with lightning reflexes I ran towards the building. Once I got to it I leaped up and grabbed a part of the building just above the entrance and flipped up before sprinting up the side of the building, killing Heartless as I went. With the last of my speed I leaped into the air and landed easily on the top of the building._

_He didn't give me a single moment of rest before lunging towards me, twin black swords in his hands. We fought for what seemed like an endless night and a single minute at the same time. With a powerful combo I sent him flying across the roof of the building, skidding to the edge. His weapons vanished and I finally thought I had him beat. In my triumph I forgot how deceitful these beings were. He looked at me with the strangest look on his face. As if I was the one on the ground and he was the one standing, ready to give the final blow._

"_I've been trying and trying to kill you for a year bow and here, on my 13__th__ birthday, I'm finally going to." I said with an evil smile. "I'll be quick about it and stab you straight through your heart though." I motioned what I was going to do, using the weapon in my left hand._

"_You know if you stab someone straight through to their heart you won't kill them. You'll just hit bones, but not the heart. That's a fatal mistake many people have made." He said calmly, a sneer etched on his face. He was obviously enjoying his final moment of glory, knowing something about killing that I didn't. He stood up and began walking slowly. His weapons were gone but I kept my eyes on him._

"_If you want to kill someone by stabbing them through the heart you have to place your blade just below their heart and stab up" I let my guard down, my weapon's lowering. His eyes snapped to mine he grinned evilly._

"_Just like this" and before I could react he lunged toward me, a black sword appearing in his right hand. I felt a pain unlike any other sear through my body. I didn't need to look down to know that damned black sword was right through my heart._

"_Humans are so easily distracted, and so weak." He said twisting the blade. I groaned in pain. I could feel my life slipping away. "Congratulations. You have been thirteen for one minute. I hope you enjoyed it." He said before pulling the blade out of my heart. I gasped in one more breath before falling back over the side of the building. I closed my eyes and let go of myself, but I didn't hit the ground, instead everything faded to black and vanished. I fell into the abyss. I wearily opened my eyes to see what looked like a black platform coming up closer. Am I falling? Or is this just the feeling of my life slipping away? I thought._

"Flip over so you can land on your feet not your face."

_My eyes snapped open and I flipped over without question. I wasn't pain any more and landed on the platform with ease. I looked around frantically._

"_Who's there?" I called._

"_The parallel of yourself" a girl said, stepping towards me. Her body was wreathed in shadow so I couldn't really tell her appearance, but I could feel power radiating off of her._

"_Who are you? And I'm looking for a name, not another riddle"_

"_It wasn't a riddle and the names Fury. I'm your Dark Being."_

"_Dark…Being" I echoed, the word was alien to me._

"_Yes now I will explain everything later. For the time being you are descending into death. I can bring you back to life but if I do we will be the same person, like a Nobody and their Other. I can make you strong, invincible even, but it will come with some…complications."_

"_If I take you up on this will you help me avenge my death?"_

"_I am you"_

"_Deal" I took her hand and the next thing I knew I was lying down in the rain, in the World That Never Was._

**Welcome back.**

_The voice that echoed in my head wasn't my own but I wasn't surprised. It seemed right that if we really were the same person we would both share a mind to some extent. I got up and glanced toward Memory's Skyscraper. He was gone. I looked down with a sigh, expecting the puddle beneath me to mimic my disappointment. I gasped at what I saw there._

"Aahhh!" I yelled, sitting up in my bed, barely avoiding collision with Riku's bed which was directly above me.I turned to see Riku standing next to my bed with a cup of water.

"Well so much for waking you up" he said with a disappointed sigh.

I eyed the cup, "What were you planning on doing with that?" I asked suspiciously

"Oh nothing" he said tossing the cup behind him.

"I hope you know that cup landed on your clothes" I said

"Oh shit!" he said turning around and running over to his clothes, quickly picking up the cup and trying to dry off his clothes. I laughed before shaking my head, trying to get that memory out of my head. I hadn't thought about that day for a long time. The day that I had died and then come back to life, saved by my Dark Being.

**So this chapter was a little shorter than I planned but I think it was still a pretty good length (not as short as the last one) I will try to update soon!) I have officially reached 300 hits! (Hooray!) ! Thank you to all my readers (please review!) P.S yes I did get the chapter title from a Stephen King book**


	10. The Radiant Garden Crew

**Chapter ten has finally arrived! Sorry that took so long to get posted! I had some problem with my profile where it wouldn't let me sign in for a few days. So as a sort of apology gift I am giving you the longest chapter yet (applause). I am at 9 reviews now (thanks everyone). If I can make it to double digit reviews I'm handing out free cookies! (If you can find where I live) Enjoy the special 10****th**** chapter!!**

_*Lauren*_

Considering the lame ship didn't have an actual bathroom in every room I got the pleasure of kicking Riku out of our room so I could change. Literally. I quickly changed into some clothes that Kairi had given me. I usually just wore a black Organization XIII cloak that Axel had given me a long time ago when I traveled but now that I was around people I had to change my clothes everyday because, unlike Organization XIII cloaks, regular clothes got dirty and torn after a while. Luckily Kairi's clothes fit me well and she seemed to have an unlimited supply when it came to things like that. I brushed my hair, using my phone as a mirror. I had chosen to take my time due to the fact that Riku was banging on our door commanding that I let him. _I'm so glad the Keyblade can be used for locking things other than the Keyholes to different worlds._ I grabbed the thing nearest me and whirled it at the door, there was the loud sound of glass breaking and then a splattering sound as some liquid hit the floor.

"That better not have been my Elixir! That thing cost me way more than it should have!" Riku yelled. I looked at the broken glass on the floor and smiled as I saw the tell-tale purple liquid dripping out of the remains of the bottle.

"It was you're over priced Elixir!" I yelled at him, trying to conceal my pleasure. It wasn't like I did it on purpose but sometimes life treats you to a few extra rewards. The following five minutes consisted of Riku yelling like a crazy person which eventually pissed me off so then we were both yelling like crazy people until Kairi came by and yelled that if she couldn't take her shower in peace she was gonna force her blade down both of our throats- at the same time. We both shut up but Riku, as persistent as always, continued to half- heartedly hit our door with some crazy hope that I was actually going to open it.

As I sat there enjoying my superior power I sensed something dark and big coming towards us, fast. I quickly got up and dashed out of the room, grabbing Riku and pulling him down the hallway towards the control room.

"You're coming with me." I said as I pulled him down the hall. For once he didn't argue, he just ran behind me without protesting. I came to a halt when I entered the control room where Sora and Kairi were both hanging out chatting at a table in the center of the room. They hadn't noticed us yet. Riku grabbed my arm and dragged me back around the corner so Sora and Kairi were out of sight.

"What's this about?" he asked quietly.

"Heartless squad about two miles away"

"Got it" Riku said with some gleam in his eye that I didn't understand. He went around the corner and raised his arms up and clapped them together loudly, getting Sora and Kairi's attention.

"Ok lovebirds hate to ruin the moment but Key bearer number two here says there's a Heartless squad about two miles away headed straight for us so I suggest you stop flirting and press the pretty red button over there that says emergency!" Riku yelled. I smiled, he knew his friends well. Sora quickly jumped up and looked at me, his eyes saying he was all business while Kairi shrunk lower into her chair and blushed. Sora ran over to the controls with Riku and I right behind him. Sora glanced at the radar than back at me.

"There's nothing here" Sora said, casting me a doubtful look.

"That's because this lame gummi ship model only has a radar range of 1 mile" I said, holding up one finger just to be sure he got the message. Riku and Sora both looked impressed. "What?" I asked. Kairi came up behind me with a sigh.

"Knowing about gummi ships is like knowing about cars in Sora and Riku's eyes." She lowered her voice to a whisper that only I could hear. "It's a total turn-on" My eyes widened and I looked over at Riku before recoiling.

"Ew" I said. Kairi just laughed. The radar beeped and Sora glanced back at it.

"There they are, about 100 Heartless ships headed for us" he said before pressing the 'pretty red button'. About a minute later Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Kairi, and I were all strapped in by the seats that had come out of the floor in the control room while Sora and Riku were manning the controls. One minute later and the Heartless squad had reached us. With Sora controlling the ships movements and Riku in charge of the weapons our lame gummi ship started twisting, turning, flipping, and zigzagging through space. Riku and Sora were making pretty good progress but the Heartless ships were strong, and once the warning alarm started blaring I decided it was time for me to save the day. I watched Sora and Riku's movements carefully. They were both pretty sure of what they were doing so instead I focused on their minds. It took about three seconds for me to realize whose thoughts were louder. I made a split decision before quickly undoing the seatbelt on the chair and leaping up, shoving Sora out of the way of the controls.

"Sorry, look out" I said before taking the controls. If I could see what Riku was planning on doing before he did it then I could work to his advantage, which would make this an easier battle to win.

"Hey what the-" Sora's protests were cut short as we took another blow and Sora, being the only one not holding on to anything, went flying backwards. Riku didn't even look away from what he was doing. Our minds working as one, or rather, me listening to what his mind was thinking and then acting on it, we slowly made our way through the Heartless squad. Once we were down to about 10 Heartless ships left at least 100 more came into our path through portals of darkness.

"They cheated!" Selphie yelled.

"Now what" Riku said, looking towards me.

"What you actually want my opinion?!" I said with mock surprise_. Of course he wants my opinion, because my opinion is the best! At least in my opinion anyways._ Riku gave me a stop-messing-around-or-I-will-freaking-kill-you look and I smiled.

"Simple- we will cheat just like they did" I told him. Riku looked confused but I'm sure everyone did right then. Gathering up a large amount of strength and, making it look one hell of a lot easier than it really was, I summoned up a huge portal. Then I shot the gummi ship forward at full speed, straight into the portal. We were in darkness for a moment before coming out the other end of the portal- right in front of a world that looked comfortably familiar. I looked back at Sora and grinned,

"You did say we were stopping by Radiant Garden first right?

_*Riku*_

"Man you guys make a great team! That was amazing!" Tidus said. He was jumping up and down. _Some people handle adrenaline badly._ We were now walking through the strangely empty streets of Radiant Garden. According to Sora it had expanded a lot since he was last there which, in other words, meant we were lost.

"How did you do that?" Sora asked turning to us. I shrugged, so Lauren can drive a gummi ship, big deal.

"Well actually I have a small amount of psychic ability, which is why Riku and I made such a good team." Lauren explained. _Oh good, so it was just a fluke after all._

"Oh so you can read minds and stuff?!" Selphie said, she sounded worried. My thoughts were confirmed about two seconds later.

"DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT I'M THINKING!!!!" She yelled, which made everyone else cover their ears.

"It's not like that Selphie, you see I can only hear stuff if people let me. Before now nobody knew to try and block me out so I _could_ hear what everyone was thinking but now, now I can't hear a thing."_ Damn._

"Except Riku just said damn" _You suck._

"I hate you too Riku!" Lauren said cheerfully. Everyone else just rolled their eyes.

"So you can pick up stuff and throw it wit your mind ya?" Wakka asked. Lauren shook her head.

"Nope, basically all I can do is telepathically communicate with people" she said. I smirked when Sora, Selphie, and Tidus all got a confused expression on their face. _Big words._ Lauren looked at me._**In your opinion maybe.**_ We all kept walking in silence, until Lauren stopped suddenly. She held out her hand as a signal for us to stop moving. She closed her eyes and stood still.

"What are you like scenting the air for danger or something?" I asked sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"There are 200 Heartless coming up in 3…2…1" she opened her eyes just as 200 Heartless appeared.

"Ok apparently you were" I said, my eyes widening with surprise. Everyone summoned their weapons, Sora with his Keyblade, me with the Way to the Dawn, Kairi with her blade, which we had decided to call the Flowerblade, at least until we could think of something better. Tidus took out his wooden sword, Wakka got out his blue and white blitz ball, and Selphie pulled out her jump rope. _Oh this will be good._ Sora seemed to notice that Tidus, Selphie and Wakka weren't exactly using Heartless fighting weapons. He turned to Lauren.

"We have to keep going, they can fight these things!" he said, gesturing to Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. Lauren nodded.

"I'm on it! she said before leaping into the mass of Heartless. A moment later I could see her, fighting viciously. None of the Heartless could touch her and I felt my jaw drop. When I had fought blind folded I had a sense of where things were and if something was coming towards me but this was something completely different. As Lauren slashed her way through the Heartless using the Two Across and the Ultima Weapon it seemed like she knew where _everything_ was, not just the things that caused a threat. She threw the Ultima Weapon across the plaza before whirling into a vicious combo with the Two Across. She ran towards the wall and managed to take a few large steps before pushing off the wall in a back flip, catching the Ultima Weapon while she was entirely upside down. She landed before spinning around, slashing the five Shadows that had leaped towards her. Then she did a quick flip, using the ends of her two blades as support instead of her own hands. Once she was on her feet again she slammed her Keyblades into the ground, a black jet of energy shot off across the ground about twenty feet before vanishing. It sort of reminded me of when I had fought Sora in the view of the heart of Radiant Garden, back when I was possessed by Xehanort's Heartless.

_*Lauren*_

I loved the feeling that adrenaline gave me, mixed with mine and Fury's strength and skill. My thoughts became less complicated before giving way to pure instinct. Back flip. Upper slash. Spin. Aerial combo. Throw Two Across. Quick and powerful combo. Catch Two Across. Run. Jump. Spin, blades out. Land on hands. Switch back to feet. Spin. Slash two Shadows. As I fought I felt something inside of me burst, or rather, erupt. I quickly counted the days since this had happened. I arrived at two and a half weeks. _Shit._ Thinking quickly I saw a large building and pointed frantically to it.

"Get behind there now!" I yelled at everyone. I got confused looks but everyone quickly went over to the building, Riku being the most hesitant. I felt the energy flowing through my veins and relished the incredible exhilaration that came with it. This may be considered a curse, but man did I love it. Once this power had completed its circulation through my veins I knew it was time to release it. My only worry was that someone might get hurt.

**Well it's a little late for that now.**

_Here goes nothing. Literally_

**Literally**

I felt my feet leave the ground and I floated up a few feet, weightless. I gently lifted up my arms with fingers facing down. I took in a deep breath, tilted my head back, and screamed.

_You know how sometimes when you're angry or in pain you just have to scream to let it out? Like if you scream loud enough or long enough all the bad feelings will just leave? Well that's why I was screaming right then. I was trying to get all the deadly energy out of me and screaming just made it easier._

As soon as I screamed I could feel the white energy shoot out from my body. It went out about two feet before shooting up high, so high probably everyone in the city could see it. I then lifted my hands so my palms were facing out and immediately the incredible force shot out, killing every Heartless in sight and even shooting down a few of the near by streets. And then as quickly as it had started, it was finished. In about ten seconds I had lost a monumental amount of energy and I had lost it so fast I momentarily lost consciousness. Now, I usually do lose consciousness but I'm usually pretty high up when this happens so I have time to regain consciousness, flip over, and land safely. Eh not this time. I was barely able to tilt my head up before landing hard on the concrete. Pain shot down my spine, sharp and cruel. I gasped out but I couldn't seem to open my eyes, it seemed like I was paralyzed for the time being. I strained every muscle in my body to move but they wouldn't respond.

_Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit!_

**Well you know what is going to happen now right?**

_Of course._

"Hey Riku can you carry her to the secret hideout?" Sora asked

"No and why are we going to a secret hideout?"

"Because everyone is there and you need to carry her"

"No you do it"

"Awe come on Riku! You _are _the strongest one here" Kairi said slyly.

"I know what you're doing but I'll carry her just so you guys will leave me alone!" He said. I felt myself being picked up off the ground.

_Of course he had to carry me._

**And you know why?**

_Because the world hates us of course!_

**Exactly.**

It was about a twenty minute walk to this so called secret hide out and during those twenty minutes I established four things.

1. I could feel Riku's muscles under his shirt

2. He was warmer than I was

3. This was _really_ uncomfortable

4. Life sucks

Finally we made it to the hide out and I got to hear the regular and always boring greetings of old friends and new people. Then I heard the one and only voice I actually enjoyed hearing.

"I guess we really can't get rid of her no matter how hard we try."

_Oh yeah he's the best._

**He's the only person I actually like.**

Maybe the world was just really twisted and was trying to make my life into some lame movie but the moment I heard his voice my paralysis was miraculously lifted from my body and I could move again.

"Cloud!" I yelled sitting up straight in Riku's arms, which by the way, was very hard. Riku dropped me out of surprise but I managed to land in a crouch. Cloud looked at me and, even though I knew he was trying to hide it, I could see the faintest trace of amusement in his eyes.

"How you been Spiky?!" I asked energetically. I looked around the room and genuinely smiled. Surrounding me were my favorite people in the worlds.

"It's been a few months! How's it going?" a certain black haired ninja asked with a wave.

"It's so good to see you again!" A girl in a pink dress said, clapping her hands together and smiling.

"Well I'll be" said one older man with blond hair.

"I was starting to wonder when your next visit would be" said a girl with long black hair.

"I should've known that I wouldn't be able to get rid of you that easily" Cloud said. I just laughed as Yuffie, Aerith, and Tifa all pulled me into a group hug. Yuffie then tugged Cid in and Cloud got pulled in by Tifa. We were all a big happy group until Riku had to go ruin it by saying:

"What the hell is going on?! You know each other?! And you actually like _her_?!_"_ he yelled, pointing to me on that last sentence.

"He's the leader of my hate club" I explained. Cloud stepped forward and quickly told everyone what was going on.

"Lauren and I met along time ago, back when I lived in a place called Midgar. I was training for an elite group of warriors called SOLDIER in hopes that I would become one someday too. My friend Zack and I found her and Zack immediately asked her to join SOLDIER because of her….unique talents. She also met Aerith then too along with Yuffie and Tifa. Then Zack died in a battle and we both went our separate ways. That was also before Fury joined the group. We ran into each other again about two years ago, right around the time when you started on your first journey, Sora. We've been running into each other a lot since then." Cloud finished.

"You were a soldier?!" Sora asked his eyes wide.

"It's different. Look it's a lot to explain and I'll tell some other time. Right now I want to know what you guys are doing here. Didn't you just get back to your islands?" Cloud asked. Yuffie, Cid, Tifa, and Aerith all leaned in, eager to hear the story.

"Well when we met Lauren and found out about the fact that she was a Keyblade bearer and that we were supposed to shape the destiny of the worlds forever I figured we should probably come ask around." Sora said sarcastically.

"Good. So you aren't as clueless as we expected." Leon said as he stepped into the room. I smiled and waved towards him and he barely managed to conceal his surprise. "So it looks like they found you, or did you find them?" he asked me.

"I found them." I said proudly before turning around to see multiple confused faces. "When I was last here they told me about this whole two Keyblade bearer, world changing thing so I went off to find you."

"Oh so you didn't come to our islands by mistake then?" Kairi asked. I shook my head.

"So Leon, how are things over by the postern?" Aerith asked.

"Not good, more and more heartless are appearing here. Their numbers are growing swiftly." He said before turning to us. "Did you guys run into any trouble on your way in?" he asked us.

"We did but Lauren got rid of all the heartless with this big flash of light!" Selphie said happily. She turned towards me and a confused expression painted her face. "What was that anyways?"

**An extremely powerful negative force created when a strong being of light and a strong being of dark collide to form one person.**

_They look confused._

**Me plus Lauren equals big boom!**

A chorus of oh's! And Ok I get it now's! Rang through the room. I saw Leon roll his eyes.

"So I'm guessing you want our help to stop the giant amount of heartless that are coming into Radiant Garden right?" Sora asked, puffing up his chest.

**Oh give me a break!**

_Haha he's one interesting character._

"Want you to help? Sora I think that's what the prophecy, if that's what you want to call it, is talking about! You and Lauren need to team up to keep this giant amount of heartless from destroying the worlds!" Aerith said. Sora got a serious look on his face and nodded before saluting Leon and Cloud.

"I've just got one question: Where did all these Heartless come from all of a sudden?" Riku asked who had been quiet the whole time.

"It's pretty obvious really." I said. Immediately everyone looked at me. I continued. "When Kingdom Hearts was destroyed by Ansem the Wise's machine, where did you think all those hearts went? Back to their owners, who would by then be dead? No they just created millions of heartless." Riku nodded his understanding.

_I have a sudden urge to be alone._

**Me too.**

_But we are the same person….wait is that humor?_

**Oh no I'm becoming human…ish.**

"I'm leaving" I said before heading towards the door.

"Hey but you just got here! You and I need to go kick some heartless ass together!" Yuffie whined

"And you can later. I think Lauren just needs some time to think" Aerith said, putting a hand on Yuffie's shoulder.

"Be careful" Cloud told me. I forced a smile, suddenly I was feeling really depressed.

"Aren't I always?" I said sarcastically before heading out the door. I was just about to round the corner when I heard the door to the 'secret hideout' close again. I turned around to see a flash of silver hair heading in the opposite direction. I didn't think a thing of it and, sensing a small group of heartless just ahead of me; I summoned up my Keyblades and ran off.

**Man that took a lot of typing! Yes I did refer to Final Fantasy Crisis Core a bit and my apologies if you didn't play that game and had no idea what was going on. Yes I know the there was a bit of a time problem from Crisis Core to Kingdom Hearts but please ignore it! I will probably never mention Crisis Core ever again! (In this story) Please review!**


	11. Under the Moonlight

**Here is chapter 11!! Thank you everyone who reviewed! (We are now at 11 reviews. Double digits how exciting!) Hopefully I got this chapter up soon enough for everyone (young gun kid I hope no cats were shot!) I had to admit I really enjoyed the Kairi and Sora scene! (Oops sorry I'm ruining it) Well I'm going to stop now before I spoil the rest of the chapter! And Riku actually has feelings! Ok I'm done now! Enjoy**

_*Selphie*_

"Those two have so much in common! I'm calling it a week before they finally go out!" I said as I watched Riku leave the secret hide out, only moments after Lauren had done the same thing. I got weird looks from Tidus and Wakka but I noticed that…what was her name? Oh yeah, Yuffie. Anyways I noticed that Yuffie was nodding her head in agreement.

"Come on Kairi I want to show you around town! This _is _where you were born anyway." Sora said, holding out his hand. Kairi nodded happily before grabbing his hand and with that Sora whisked her away to show her the sites and sounds of Radiant Garden. I turned to Yuffie

"Man this is gonna be sooo exciting! No school. No parents! _And_ we get to totally kick heartless butt!" I said, punching the air with my fist.

"Not so fast "Cloud said holding up his hands. I crossed my arms and put on a pouty face.

"Awe why not?!" I moaned. _I just wanna get out there and show Sora and Kairi and Riku and Lauren that I can fight too!!_

"Well first we are going to show you three how to properly fight" Tifa said, pointing to me, Tidus, and Wakka.

"You're on!" Tidus said, raising up his wooden sword and getting into fighting position. Tifa just smiled before shooting forward so quickly she was a blur. She slid across the floor, kicking Tidus's legs out from under him before jumping up, punching him in the face as she went. Tidus collapsed to the ground holding his face.

"Now will you let me show you how to _actually_ fight?" Tifa said smugly, wiping herself off. Tidus just grunted and got up, dusting himself off. Then there was a poof of smoke and a man with a long gray beard, glasses, a blue hat, blue slippers, and a blue robe that was way too short for him came out of the smoke.

"Well it seems I have arrived right on time, as usual." He said before glancing around. "Though I would've enjoyed getting the chance to teach Kairi a bit of magic too"

"So that makes you late?" Leon asked, which caused the strange man in blue clothing to look offended

"No I am right on time! I just have some regrets about the way things played out." He said. Leon made the right choice and decided to drop the subject. The man turned to us.

"My name is Merlin. I am a highly trained magician and have been requested to teach you three in the art of magic." He explained. My eyes widened. I had seen Sora do magic before and I was absolutely amazing! I could watch him for hours!_ Not that he ever actually did magic for hours. Lazy Keyblade Master. _

"You mean like the 'create a bouquet out of thin air' kind of magic?! Because I can already do that." Tidus said. I rolled my eyes

"No silly like the magic that Sora does!" I said with a squeal of excitement. _Man this is going to be sooo exciting! _

"Now if you three will just follow me I have some extra furniture that you three can practice magic on" Merlin said before heading up a staircase that I hadn't noticed before. I squealed with excitement one more time before heading up the staircase with Tidus and Wakka.

_*Riku*_

_Man I'm a mess!_ I slashed my way through yet another horde of heartless, trying to clear my head. Adrenaline had always been useful when I was trying to really think things through. Thoughts pounded against my skull like a swarm off wasps, stinging and stinging me without dying._ Man I feel so confused. I'm going to make a freaking list of my feelings….yeah this is gay. Oh well._

_I'm confused about: everything _

_A) Lauren- I liked her…a lot just three freaking days ago! Now I hate her. How did that happen?!_

_1. B) Sora- I've always sort of been the one everyone looked to for guidance and it seemed like I was always the leader. Now suddenly it seems like Sora's taken that role. I feel like I don't even know my own best friend anymore._

_1. C) Myself- If I've always been the leader and now that's what Sora is, then what am I? I don't have anyone to talk to anymore that will understand. I feel like everyone has changed. Is it everyone else or is it just me?_

_2. I'm worried and lost and angry and hateful and sad and sca- OK THIS LIST IS NOT HELPING!!!!! _

_This is why I think therapists are completely pointless. Slashing heartless is much better._

Doing my best not to continue my list I kept slashing any heartless that came near me and eventually worked my way up to the one place I didn't want to be and the place I had been searching for at the same time. I had finally made it to the castle where Maleficent had carried out all her evil deeds, the same place where Sora and I fought over Kairi, and the same place Xehanort's Heartless had taken over my appearance.

_**But you never gave up. Isn't that what counts?**_

The voice rang in my ear. I remembered a girl telling me that, a long time ago. It was just after I had gone through Kingdom Hearts with the King. I remembered wondering for weeks who that girl had been. So why did her voice sound so familiar all of a sudden? I walked over to the edge of the cliff and sat down. _With a full moon and clear skies I may just stay here all night._ With a sigh I closed my eyes and began to try and sort things out.

_*Lauren*_

I walked peacefully across the bluish colored land to where a cliff was. I was high above the ground which was exactly how I preferred it. With a full moon high in the sky, a cool breeze, and an all around perfect night I sat down, feeling completely relaxed for the first time in days. I had destroyed enough heartless for my body to decide I deserved some contentment before the next urge to fight came on. Wanting to take complete control of the moment I took in a deep breath and began singing, softly at first but then louder.

_I'm hunting shadows in the dark_

_In steaming jungles of the world._

_Either to kill or to be killed_

_By creatures never named or heard._

_I'm lifting wishes to the stars_

_The gleaming satellites of time._

_Orbiting circles overhead_

_To futures when your love is mine._

_But you were always pretty reckless with your love_

_Come with the sun and getting restless when it's gone._

_And when you go you leave me breathless and alone_

_You leave me breathless when you close the door_

_It feels just like you took the air out of the room with you._

_Your voice is echoing again_

_Through catacombs inside my mind._

_And I've been dreaming of revenge_

_To make you love me more than even you can try._

_All words converge to where you are._

_And if I follow I will surely find_

_The horses gone the fire still warm _

_And you've moved on an hour before._

_You like to keep me just one step behind._

_But you were always pretty reckless with your love_

_Come with the sun and getting restless when it's gone_

_And when you go you leave me breathless and alone_

_You leave me breathless when you close the door_

_It feels just like you took the air out of the room with you_

_Breathless….._

_Breathless….._

_Breathless….._

_Breathless….._

I hummed softly to this part of the song, which was my favorite part. It was just a guitar playing but it sounded so sweet, almost supernatural, like something so amazing couldn't really be heard. I took another breath as words approached

_Yeah you were always pretty reckless with your love_

_Come with the sun and getting reckless when it's gone_

_And when you go you leave me breathless and alone_

_You leave me breathless when you close the door_

_It feels just like you took the air out of the room with you_

_Restless when it's gone….._

_Breathless and alone_

_You leave me breathless when you close the door_

_It feels just like you took the air out of the room with you_

_Breathless….._

_Breathless….._

_Breathless….._

_Breathless….._

I sighed happily, imagining a roaring applause. No one had ever heard me sing so I wasn't exactly sure if I sounded good or not. I didn't really mind though. I didn't want people to hear me sing, just in case I did sound bad. Just then I heard clapping.

"Not bad!" a voice yelled._ Dammit I know that voice!_ I looked down to see….! _Oh no he did NOT!_

_*Riku*_

_She's not too bad, for a horrible abomination of nature that is._ I clapped a few more times, and then laughed when I saw the furious look on her face. With out hesitation she jumped off the cliff and turned over so she was facing the rock wall. She summoned Two Across and jammed it into the rock. She continued to slide down, still holding on to her blade. When she was about 10 ft from the bottom she pressed her feet flat against the wall and pushed off in a wide back flip. She landed easily and summoned her blade out of the wall and back to her hand.

"Were you listening the whole time?!" she yelled angrily

"Would I be clapping if I hadn't heard you?" I asked. She stomped her foot angrily and I laughed

"You weren't supposed to hear that!" she said

"Well I did!" I responded this was really starting to annoy me. It was just a song right?

"Oh forget it!" she said. "I'm not about to let you ruin this!" she turned towards the cliff I had been sitting at, the one that gave you a perfect view of Maleficent's old castle. She yawned and stretched up her hands and with out another word she ran and jumped off the cliff.

"Are you insane?!" I yelled but it was too late. She flipped over so her head would be the first thing that would hit the ground and just as she was about to hit the ground and die a pure black wing and a pure white wing sprouted out of her back and she shot up into the sky._ What the hell….?_ Then I remembered that Fury had wings so I guess Lauren had them too, as long as she and Fury were the same person. Lauren circled around the castle and did a series of dives and turns, smiling the whole time. In the end I smiled too. _She's completely insane._

_**If I wasn't insane that would never have worked!**_

I just laughed. Then I realized that it was probably getting pretty late. I checked my phone. 11:45.

_Dammit we gotta go! It's already almost midnight!_

_**Ok ok relax I'm coming.**_

Lauren did a wide turn and started flying back to where I was. She was about twenty feet away when something shot out of the sky, hitting her square on. She shot towards the ground and hit hard.

_**Dammit! Stupid heartless! Ugh great- I broke my effing wing.**_

I looked down to see her pure white wing was now turning red, and it was bent at an awkward angle. I took a few steps back, preparing myself. _If I can jump off Memory's Skyscraper blind folded and survive I'm sure I can do this._

_**Just stay there- there's only two of them. I got it.**_

I crossed my arms angrily and sat down on the ground. I probably looked like a pissed off 5 yr old but I really didn't care. I watched as the first heartless that had broken Lauren's wing charged at her. At the last minute Lauren flipped over the heartless, dragging her Keyblade down its body. She landed and slashed out horizontally at the second heartless and just like that they were gone. She crossed her arms and stood there. For a moment I was confused before I realized she couldn't get back up.

_**Yes I can stupid! Watch and learn.**_

She tossed her Keyblade up high enough that it was over my head. Then suddenly Lauren disappeared. I looked up at the Keyblade and watched as she reappeared holding on to the hilt of the blade. She landed easily and then looked to me.

"What?"

"Hasn't Sora done that before?"

"Uh no?"

"God doesn't he know anything?!"

"That's a great question" I told her. She kept staring at me. "Now what?!" I asked

"Uh my wing's broken?" she said in an are-you-an-idiot sort of way.

"I don't have any potions"

"Have you heard of the spell Cure before?!"

"I can't do that spell smart one!"

"How about for once you _try._ Instead of just writing yourself off!" I stomped over to her and summoned up Way to the Dawn. I put the tip of the blade against her wing and said Cure. To my surprise small green orbs surrounded her wing and I watched as her wing positioned itself and I heard a soft click as her wings snapped back into place.

"Oh what a surprise! I was right!" she said before heading back towards the secret hide out.

"How about thank you Riku?"

"Thank you Riku" I stopped in surprise. I had expected something more PG-13 than that. She glanced back

"Are you coming? Or do I have to hold your hand and show you the way back?" she said, rolling her eyes. Something passed between us and I understood. Maybe we weren't friends. Maybe we hated each other. But the urge to completely destroy her went away or at least faded a little.

_**I call the bigger half of the closet in our room by the way.**_

_And the urge is back._

_**I figured**_

_*Kairi*_

I collapsed against the wall trying to catch my breath. Sora and I had been fighting heartless for _hours. _But they still just kept coming. I took a quick drink from my water bottle, noting that it was almost empty. Sora appeared in front of me and held out his hand.

"It looks like the heartless are taking a break. We should too! Do you want to go grab something to eat? I think we've collected enough money from all these heartless to have ten dinners." He said with a smile. I laughed and took his hand. He helped me to my feet and we headed off.

"Where are we going to eat?" I asked him

"I want to show you my favorite restaurant in all of Radiant Garden!" he said before running off.

"Sora come back!" I yelled. Running was not my strong point, it wasn't anywhere close. W_here does he get all this energy?_ I chased after him. Fortunately the restaurant was just around the corner, so I didn't have to run very far. We got a seat inside and ordered our drinks. Considering how tired we were we both just got water and drained our glasses the moment the waitress arrived with them.

"Would you like some more water you two?" she said sarcastically. We both nodded enthusiastically and the waitress picked up our glasses and headed back towards the kitchen.

"Man Kairi you're starting to get really good at fighting! I'm impressed!" Sora said happily. I just blushed and waved my hand

"Well I still have a lot to learn. I'd like Aerith to teach me some healing magic"

"I think you would be good at that. After all the more light you have in your heart, the better you are at healing! And that means you'll be the best!" he declared. I smiled but my happy moment was quickly cut off when I heard a women scream from outside.

"Heartless! The heartless are attacking!" I quickly scooted my chair back, accidentally tripping the waitress with our water! The water she had been carrying went flying and landed right on Sora. He yelped as the icy water ran down his back.

"Oh Sora I'm so sorry!" I said, rushing over to try and help him dry off. He held up a hand and sighed

"Just forget it Kairi." And with that he turned and ran out the door, summoning the Oblivion Keyblade. I noticed that he had been fighting with the Oathkeeper up until now. I groaned. _Sora's never going to go to dinner with me ever again! Definitely not on a date!_ I summoned up the Flowerblade, as Riku called it, and headed out the door into the cool night.

**There you have it! Magic, singing, flying, dinner, and of course, heartless! Here is a video with the song Breathless in it by the way:** **.com/watch?v=c6zQFmno-ME&feature=channel_page (The pairing is Noctis and Aerith by the way)****Hope you enjoy the chapter and I will try to update soon! Review please!**_**  
**_


	12. The Usual Rivalry

**Hello again everyone! Chapter 12 is officially up! *applause* Thank you everyone who reviewed! The story hasn't been progressing as fast as I'd hoped but if you have any questions I'm planning on answering anything at the beginning of my next chapter. Oh and by the way this chapter starts out with a dream (just in case you didn't know)**

_*Lauren/Fury*_

_The sweat that ran down my back was from two things- the fact that I had been dancing with this guy non-stop for an hour and the fact that this nightclub was insanely hot. The guy I was dancing with had dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and a professionally whitened smile. I acted completely oblivious to the jealous stares of other girls and simply smiled to myself. The song ended and I wiped my hand across my forehead, breathing hard._

"_Man screw the gym this place is way better!" I said before taking in another much needed breath._

"_Haha we have been dancing for a while" the guy, Shawn, said his blue eyes glued to mine. It was pretty obvious he had a thing for me. Of course that was just part of the plan. A slow song came on and immediately all the couples began slow dancing on the dance floor. Shawn held out his hand to me._

"_May I have this dance?" he said with a fake accent. I laughed._

"_Actually I was hoping I could run to the bathroom…." I said looking off to the side._

"_That's cool. Hey I'll grab us something to drink!" he said before turning towards the food and drinks table. "Meet you back here?"_

"_Of course" I said with a wink, turning around and heading towards the bathroom. I grabbed my jacket which I had strategically dropped near the bathroom and carefully balled it up, feeling the lump in my jacket pocket and smiling. Once I got in the bathroom I shut and locked the door which had a 'please don't lock' sign on it and checked the stalls to be sure no one else was in there. Then I watched as Fury emerged from my body._

"_**That guy has some of the most perverted thoughts I've ever heard!"**__ she ranted angrily_

"_Relax! Here" I said, tossing her the jacket. She caught it and unwrapped it carefully_

"_**Ooohhh nice. These guys really out did themselves on the tech."**_

"_And the disguises" I said, nodding my head in agreement. I looked in the mirror and smiled at my 'self'. According to my boss I was 14 years old, named Phoebe and had naturally jade green eyes and amazing black hair._

"_These colored contacts bite" I said rubbing my eye carefully. I turned to her "So are you setting it off?"_

"_**With pleasure" **__I saw a malicious gleam light up her blood red eyes._

"_Well once I leave turn it on and I'll meet you outside in 5!" I said before exiting the bathroom and pulling out 'Phoebe's' phone, a maroon env2 and walked over to Shawn. He handed me a bottle of water which I took in my free hand. _

"_Bad news" I said waving my phone and putting on a depressed expression._

"_What's up?"_

"_My parents were supposed to be gone until tomorrow but they are heading back tonight! They would sooo kill me if they knew that I spent my night here" I said pointing my finger towards the ground when I said here._

"_Oh ok. If you get grounded you know I could just have my parents sue right?" he joked. I smiled for a moment before frowning again._

"_So I'll see you around?" he asked hopefully_

"_Most likely" I said, adding in another wink. I pulled a piece of paper out of my back pocket and handed it to him._

"_Phone number?" he asked_

"_Cell" I said waving my phone again before putting it in my back pocket. His eyes followed my hand and I suppressed the urge to smack him._

"_Wait until I'm gone before opening it!" _

"_Am I in for a surprise?"_

"_You have no idea" I said before walking out, enjoying the confused look on his face. I walked out to see Fury waiting in the shadows, just as planned._

"_Should we stay in watch?"_

"_**It wouldn't be any fun if we didn't" **__I turned around and watched the club's flashing lights and listened to the music that made its way out the doors and to my ears._

"_**So what was on the piece of paper you wrote?"**_

"_Just a little note" I said with a smile before rehearsing the note I had given Shawn, word for word. "Dear Shawn, I hate to tell you but you won't be seeing me, or pretty much anyone, again. I was hired to kill you and meeting you here wasn't a coincidence. Unfortunately a bunch of other people had to die too. Well enjoy the last, like, minute of your life! Very sorry (not really) to hear about your passing away._

_~ Notorious assassins, Lauren and Fury._

_I finished with a contented sigh._

"_**Nice. You really outdid yourself."**__ Just then there was a huge explosion and we watched as the entire club blew up in a flash of color. __**"Another job well done"**_

_  
"Damn that explosion was big. We better get going" We both ran towards the nearest alley and headed towards where our boss said he would be meeting us._

"_**Remind me why we did this again?"**_

"_Because we are getting paid 250,000 effing munny!"_

"_**I meant why did he pay us to do this?"**_

"_Some politics shit. Like the kid's parents are big faces in the political scheme of things and if the kid's death kept them from going to this big political conference the guy who's paying us will have a great opportunity to make a lot of money"_

"_**The usual reason"**_

"_Exactly" We finally arrived at a run down building to see a man whose face was hidden by a cloak standing outside the building. He was carrying a black briefcase._

"_I was hoping for something more original as far as money transferring. Everyone seems to prefer black briefcases though." The man gave a small laugh before handing over the suitcase_

"_I'm assuming the job's done"_

"_**Did you not see the explosion?"**__ The man just chuckled before walking off. I checked the briefcase._

"_We are good to go!" I said, Fury opened a portal and we both stepped through._

"Wake up!! You sleep too much!" Riku yelled in my ear. I shot straight up and hit my head on his bunk.

"Ow" I moaned before curling up into a ball in my bed. Riku grabbed the sheets on my bed and dragged them out of the bed, taking me with them. I landed on the ground with a 'thunk' before curling up again.

"Get up" Riku groaned

"Never" I lay there for a few seconds before Riku picked my up bridal style.

"What the hell?!" I yelled trying to escape but he had an iron grip on me. He carried my out of our room and dropped me on the ground.

"I need to change" he said before heading back into our room, locking the door behind him.

"Damn you Riku" I whispered before summoning the Keyblade and unlocking the door.

"Whoa!" Riku said when I stepped back into the room. "Stupid Keyblade bearer!" he had his shirt half way on and looked pretty pissed at me. I yawned before pointing to the door.

"Out" he just stared at me. I crossed my arms over my chest. "What's your problem?" I asked with an annoyed tone. _I wanna go back to bed!_

"Nice tank top" was all he said. _Damn you Riku. You and your stupid guy hormones!!_ I eyed the black blindfold that Riku had conveniently placed on the small table on the far side of the room. I lunged at him and slammed him down into my bed. I grabbed the blindfold before tackling him, putting my knee on his chest so he couldn't get up.

"This'll teach you to be a freaking pervert"

"Get the hell off me!" he yelled as I forced the blindfold over his eyes.

"Oh my god!" a voice yelled from behind me. I recognized it as Tidus. I turned around to see him pointing at us with a terrified look in his eyes.

"You guys are…are..." he sprinted out of the room and down the hall.

**He did NOT just think that.**

_I'm afraid to ask what he thought._

I turned to Riku and slapped him before tying the blindfold, very tightly, over his eyes.

"Oh my god I'm blind" Riku joked before sitting up, hitting his head on his bed, and falling back down. "I can't feel my eyes!" he had a fake panic attack before getting up with ease and crossing the room to where his stuff was. "You know I really don't like being blind!"

"I really don't like you"

"Touché. Now get this thing off of me. I prefer seeing!" Just then Kairi came into the room, almost cautiously.

"Tidus is running around yelling that you and Riku are…erm…" she gave me a meaningful look.

"Oh god no!" I yelled waving my arms in front of me.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked looking towards me, or rather, the sound of my voice.

"Tidus thinks I just lost my virginity" I said with a sigh. Riku was silent for a moment before everything clicked.

"Oh my god never in a million years I would sooner be blind!!....erm well permanently" he said

"Well I'm glad that Tidus is wrong. Don't feel too bad though he goes a little over the edge sometimes." Kairi said before leaving the room.

"Now can you take my blind fold off?"

"No I'm gonna change"

"You know that's still kind of gross. Even though I can't see you you're still changing like five feet away from me and- ….what did you just throw on my head?

"It's that beautiful tank top you love so much. I'm sure Kairi won't mind if you borrow it" I said before changing into the rest of my stuff. Riku stuck out his tongue like he just tasted something gross and picked up the tank top between his thumb and index finger before dropping it on the ground. I quickly brushed my hair and tossed the tank top that Riku found so amazing on to my bed before heading out.

"Where are you going?! I'm not gonna be blind all day! A few months was enough for me thank you!" Riku said angrily. I sighed and walked over to untie his blindfold. I had to be careful though because his hair was all tied up in the knot so it took a few minutes to untie. _Oh my god his hair is amazing._ I smacked myself.

"Uh what was that?"

"Shut up" Riku just laughed. "So Pretty Boy what's with the professional shampoo and conditioner? Oh and the hair dye?"

"Xehanort's Heartless recommended it" Riku said sarcastically. I pulled the blindfold out of his hair and immediately Riku had to make a big deal out of it.

"Holy Jesus I can see again! I've been cured"

"Whatever Pretty Boy I'm out of here."

"Off to see your boyfriend Cloud?" he asked tauntingly. I summoned the Keyblade and turned around. Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Ooohhh scary" he said, rolling his eyes. I pointed the Keyblade at him

"Stopaga" Riku immediately froze. I gently pushed him back to where the bunk bed was and tied the blindfold over his eyes, tightly. Then I headed over to my bag where I kept a piece of rope. I had gotten it as a reward on one of my assassin missions. It was about a foot long but could magically stretch to be miles long. I then tied Riku to the bedpost before heading back out the door.

"Bye! be back in maybe ten hours!"_ Yes Stopaga was a spell worth mastering._

I arrived at the secret hideout with Yuffie after a few awesome hours of Heartless butt kicking. Riku was the last thing on my mind.

"So when are we heading out again?!" Yuffie asked. "I was just getting warmed up!" I shook my head and laughed.

"I gotta go talk to Cid for a while"

"Whatever I'll go out with Leon or something!" Yuffie called before jogging back out to the Heartless filled streets. I smiled _It's impossible to depress Yuffie._ I waved over to Cid, catching his attention.

"You ready to go?" he asked. I waved the pouch of munny that I had in my hands.

"Let's get going.

_*Sora*_

"Ok so it sounds like we are going to Olympus Coliseum first?" I asked. Kairi, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus and I were all gathered around the large table in the gummi ship looking at a map of the worlds. We had spent the last half an hour trying to figure out where we should go first. We had decided on Olympus Coliseum because the heartless there were fairly easy to fight and odds are Hades knew something about how the Heartless were spread out among the worlds.

"I think we should stop at Traverse Town first. Then head to Olympus Coliseum" Kairi said.

"How come" I asked. Kairi and I hadn't been speaking much since she got water spilled all over me.

"Well so we can stock up on accessories and armor and healing items. Didn't you say Traverse Town has a really good variety of things like that?"

"That's a good idea. Ok so we will go to Traverse Town first and then head over to Olympus Coliseum. Now we need to find Lauren and Riku"

"Yuffie said Lauren had gone off with Cid to get something" Selphie said. I nodded.

"Does anyone know where Riku is?" Everyone shook their head. I sighed. Riku had been pretty secluded from the group since Lauren came around. I just hoped he wasn't off doing stupid things that could result in him getting killed. Suddenly there was a huge crash from down the hall. A minute later Riku stomped angrily into the room.

"Where's Lauren?!" he asked angrily. Everyone shook their heads. "I'm gonna kill her. Slowly"

"What did she do?" Kairi asked

"She freaking tied me up in our room" If Riku hadn't looked so murderous right then I probably would've laughed.

"And how did she manage to do that?" I asked, trying to hide the amusement in my voice.

"Stopaga. Whatever the hell that is." _Oh I love that spell. Wow that was pretty smart of her. I wonder what he did to piss her off this time…._

"Well we should probably go look for her!" Tidus said. We all headed out of the gummi ship and over to the secret hideout. Leon and Yuffie were standing outside.

"You guys are looking for Lauren right?" Leon asked. A few of us nodded

"Well she should be here with Cid any second" Yuffie explained. I heard the sound of a huge engine overhead and looked up to see an amazingly large gummi ship flying over head. Cid's voice came on over some sort of speaking device that was hooked to the outside of the ship.

"She's a beauty! The latest model too!" Cid landed the ship and Lauren came running out.

"Introducing the non-lame gummi ship! It makes yours look like s-

"Hey keep it PG!" Leon yelled _what does he have against cussing? _

Everyone clapped and cheered as Cid and Lauren explained the perks of the new gummi ship.

"I had enough extra munny to buy it for our little quest, adventure, thing." Lauren explained to me

"Awesome" I said giving her a high five. I looked around to see everyone high fiving and cheering. I had to admit, the gummi ship was pretty amazing. It would some luxurious space travel from here on out._ I guess some things really do change._

"I'm gonna fucking murder you Lauren!" _And then some things don't._

**Haha alright! Chapter 12 is done and I will start on chapter 13! The whole Lauren/Riku thing was (as always) fun to write. (Warning I have never actually been to a nightclub so I have no idea what they are really like). I know a lot didn't happen in this chapter but I wanted to put a little more into the KH crew's time in Radiant Garden before moving on. Next stop Traverse Town! Review please**


	13. The Adventures of Traverse Town

**Chapter 13 is here! I don't usually update this quickly but I suddenly got inspired and just had to type this up right away. I have to admit the first part is my personal favorite. Tell me what you think! Review the story and give me your opinion. Special thanks to Sweet Nightmare's Goodbyes for telling me the name of Kairi's blade. I really needed that. I'm now at 15 reviews and thanks to everyone who asked questions! (All 1 of you) So here is the Q&A!**

**Young gun kid-****Are Roxas and Axel going to stay inside Riku and Sora or will they be free to roam around in there own bodies?**

**Answer(drum roll please!)- They will be free to roam around, Namine too, starting in this chapter! Coincidentally the chapter starts out with Riku and Namine. Ok no more spoilers! Go read the chapter!**

_*Riku*_

For the first time ever everyone except for me was in the gummi ship's kitchen eating dinner. Being 16 years old_ and incredibly tall_ I needed to eat a lot and I was usually the first one to the kitchen for dinner. But today I was skipping dinner so I could check out this brand new gummi ship that Lauren had bought. My stomach growled. _Much to my stomach's annoyance._ The layout was fairly similar: a control room, a kitchen, hallways, bathrooms (although Sora's gummi only had one bathroom whereas this gummi had multiple), a captain's room, and bedrooms. This gummi had 6 freaking bedrooms, not including Sora's 'captain' room!!! Man I was so excited to have my own room! And then this gummi had a freaking training room! The room had everything from weights and treadmills to a virtual heartless initiation system. This was super smart talk for being able to fight fake heartless with the push of a button. I scoped out the rooms for the biggest and best one, which would be mine of course. I had even decided to create something to mark my room so that no one would take it. I checked all the bedrooms and I nominated bedroom #6 as my bedroom. I pulled the post-it note out of my pocket and slapped it on the door: **Riku's Room. Enter and I kill you. Slowly. **Yes I had a way with words.

"What do you think you're doing?" The girl's voice that came from behind me was more questioning, maybe even a little shy, than forward and accusing. I turned around to see a blond girl with blue eyes, a sketchbook complete with a box of colored pencils, blue sandals, and a petite white dress standing in front of me.

"Holy shit you're Namine!" _Oh yes Riku that was such a great reaction. It just screams I'm Riku and I know you're jealous of me because I am fucking amazing. Yeah, no I don't think so._ Namine leaped back surprise and let out a small shriek. "Sorry! I just didn't expect to see you there"

"I can tell" she said. I had to strain to hear her though because a.) She had a naturally soft voice and b.) She was so freaked out by my reaction she was still shaking and was probably trying to decide whether to converse (as in conversation, not shoes) with me or run down the hall screaming about a crazy guy named Riku

"Soooo……" I said awkwardly, leaning back against the door to the, sorry I meant _my_, room. Not the room, _my_ room.

"What's the post-it note for?"

"This is my new room! There are enough rooms for everyone to get their own!" Namine looked confused and counted people with her fingers. One, two, three, four, five, six, etc. She arrived at eleven people. What eleven people?

"Eleven people?! How did you get eleven people?!" my voice got higher.

"Me, you, Roxas, Axel, Sora, Kairi, Lauren, Fury, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. 11 people" Namine explained, holding up her hands again. She had me hold up one of my fingers too, since she doesn't have eleven fingers. _Does anyone? Oh who cares?! _The_ point is I don't get my own room! Wait….if Sora has his own that's one room, Kairi and Selphie are two, Namine is three, Tidus and Wakka are four, Axel and Roxas are five, then Lauren and Fury are six!! So if I hurry I can get the last room! Yes!!_

"Namine there's an extra room-

"If you don't remember to count Fury as getting her own room" Namine interrupted.

"Whaaa…?"

"Fury's getting her own room too. Unless you would like to share with her and give Lauren the spare room"

"Why can't I just have the extra room?!" _Why_ _yes Riku, you did sound like a four year old just then. _

"Because that wouldn't fair to everyone else. Fury is the only Dark Being so she should get her own room." I sighed with defeat before gesturing to my, sorry,_ the_ room behind me.

"So whose room is this?"

"Mine" _The world hates me so much._ I stepped away from the door.

"Ok fine. Here's your room" I said, motioning to the door. Namine stepped up and pulled out a pencil before writing on the post-it note I had stuck onto the door. When she was done she stepped back so I could read it. It read:Namine's **Room. Enter and I kill you. Slowly. **I smirked,

"Very believable Namine" She smiled and nodded before heading down the hallway.

"Hey do you know which room is mine?" I called after her

"Lauren already put something up! Go find it!" she yelled back, which sounded like she was just talking normally since her voice was so soft. I walked through the halls before I found the room. The sign read:

Lauren (and Riku's) Room. Enter and I'll send my Dark Being on you.

Oh yes, that was quite threatening.

"Hey there room mate" Lauren said coming up behind me. She said it the same way you would say my whole family just died tragically.

"Nice sign. It would scare me, you know if I wasn't your room mate."

"You're scared anyways, I can tell" she said casually before walking into the room, I followed her. Inside were to twin sized beds, a large closet, which I immediately walked over to and drew a line down the middle of with my handy-dandy sharpie. I could practically hear Lauren roll her eyes, two dressers, and one bathroom. _Well it looks like the mornings shall remain interesting._

_**Oh hell yes.**_

I smiled; yes morning would most definitely stay interesting.

_*(still) Riku*_

"Get the hell off of me! Do you want Tidus to get the wrong idea again?!" I yelled at her as she tackled me to the ground.

"The door's locked stupid! And you started that!"

"How was that my fault?!"

"What kind of shitty question is that?! You were checking me out you pervert"

"Checking _you_ out?! Who swooned when they saw me shirtless?!" _Yes I'm totally muscular and amazing._ I got kicked in the head for that one. Lauren ran into the bathroom and locked the door. A moment later I heard the shower running.

_**Victory is warm and refreshing.**_

_Ew you better be talking about the shower._

_**Of course I'm talking about the shower idiot! What else would I be thinking of?!**_

_Eh…_

_**Sick…sick sick sick.**_

Since the shower was already running I decided that I probably shouldn't break down the door. Yes, the door destroying was definitely a no. I sighed before heading down the hallway for breakfast. I then enjoyed a nice refreshing meal of blueberry pancakes and syrup before heading back to my room to find it clean with my clothes sorted and my bed made with Lauren holding the door to the bathroom open for me so I could go take nice long shower. _Haha how long did it take before you realized I was kidding. Hopefully before I told you I was._

I came into the kitchen to find Axel and Roxas arm wrestling over a huge plate of pancakes. _Awww no blueberry. Damn_. I grabbed a fork, sat down, and began eating the pancakes. Axel and Roxas turned to me in horror.

"We were arm wrestling!" Roxas cried

"Yes I could see that. Were you guys betting on something? That always makes it more interesting"

"Yeah we were betting over those pancakes" Axel said, pointing to my plate of half eaten pancakes.

"Heheh oops?" Roxas' eyes narrowed

"Get him" Then they both lunged at me. It was only when my fist connected with Roxas' face that I realized I wasn't in the mood for beating the crap out of my best friend's Nobody.

"Hey calm down! I'll make you another plate of effing pancakes! Just calm down!" They both looked at me in horror.

"I'd rather just beat you up" Roxas said.

"Yeah you got like a D in Home Ec." Axel said

"Did not!"

"Dude I was _there_" _Oh yeah that's right, stupid Nobody._

"Hey Riku you can go take a shower now!" Lauren said, walking into the kitchen. Her blue eyes quickly scanned over the room before settling on me.

"What?!" she was starting to make me feel really uncomfortable.

"Roxas and Axel were arm wrestling and you ate their pancakes?!" she said disbelievingly._ How the hell did she know that?!_

"Yeah but I was about to make them more pancakes to make up for it!"

"Your cooking is radioactive" Axel pointed out.

"Well you go take a shower and I'll make them some pancakes" Lauren said, walking past me so she could get all the pancake ingredients.

"Wait what?!" _Who are you and what have you done with my bitchy roommate?!_

_**Just go take an effing shower.**_

_I'm gonna go take my effing shower now_

_**Good idea.**_

Of course my bitchy roommate hadn't vanished; she was just going under the radar again. I realized it when I stepped into the shower that was spraying down ice cold water . Bitchy Roommate had used all the hot water delivered to our room. _Dammit._

_*Kairi*_

I stepped out of the large gummi and into Traverse Town. The faint sound of peaceful music floated in the air and the smell of a restaurant nearby came to me. I looked to my left to see a bunch of chairs and tables next to a small building. _There's that restaurant I smelled._ I looked around and realized that Traverse Town was very simple. All the shops and houses were small and quaint and a permanent night hung over the world. Luckily all the lights kept everything bright.

"Well we should probably split up now. I think Lauren should go with Roxas, Axel, and Namine to buy some different items. Kairi maybe you could take Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka with you to Merlin's house? He may show up and show you guys some more magic. I would like to go talk to my friend Pinocchio. Riku do you wanna come with me?" Sora handed out orders and I felt a surge of pride. That goofy little kid that used to be my best friend was gone, replaced by the personality of a leader. A true Keyblade Master.

Riku shifted uncomfortably and I remembered how he told me about his run in with Sora in the world of Monstro, which was really just a giant whale that Pinocchio and his father Geppetto had gotten trapped in. Riku had tried to steal Pinocchio's heart.

"Ok on second thought Riku why don't you just go fight some Heartless? We can all meet up in the 3rd district" Sora said. Everyone split into groups and I quickly spoke up.

"Sora I don't know where Merlin's house is..." I really hated to embarrass him in front of everyone but I wasn't going to be able to get him alone it seemed.

"Oh right. Um… go to the 3rd district and then there's a door. If you cast the fire spell on it you will be able to get in." he said. _But I can't cast a fire spell and I don't know where the 3__rd__ district is!!_

"I'll show you" Riku said before heading towards, what I assumed, was the way to the 3rd district. Everyone went their separate ways and I hurried to catch up with Riku.

"I guess you're better at telepathy than Sora is" I said, trying to catch my breath. Did I mention running isn't one of my strong points? Riku snorted.

"I guess so" We went through a door into what I presumed was the 2nd district.

"Everyone be on your guard! The 2nd and 3rd district both have Heartless." Riku said, sounding sort of like a tour guide. Everyone summoned up their weapons. I summoned Blossoming Strength, the official name of my blade as I had found out from Aerith. Apparently my blade automatically increased the strength of my magic so I was excited for Merlin to teach me. Only a few Heartless popped up in the 2nd district so we moved onto the 3rd district pretty quickly.

When we got there Riku showed us the door that Sora had been talking about. It was a black door with no handle that had a glowing red flame on the front.

"How do we get in?" Selphie asked

"We have to cast a fire spell ya?" Guess who that was. Just guess.

"Can you do a fire spell Riku?" Tidus asked with a hint of competitiveness in his voice. Riku shook his head

"But I can do this" His blade seemed to melt into his arm and his arm glowed. He held his hand out towards the door and some large balls of blue, white, and black fire shot out and hit the door.

"Its not real fire like what Merlin will be teaching you but it should work" he said. Surely enough the door slide open and we headed through. Riku stopped at the entrance.

"Well I better go fight some Heartless. I'd hate to disappoint 'captain Sora' and all" he put finger quotes around captain Sora.

"Well ok then Riku!" I said with a wave. He walked out and the door slide shut behind him. It was really dark. The house looked very old and rundown but I really wasn't sure what most wizards' houses looked like so I couldn't really judge. The house was surrounded by water that looked green. There were four moving platforms floating on the water that led up to the house. We all carefully jumped from platform to platform, nobody wanting to fall into the gross green water.

Once were inside the house there was a poof of smoke and Merlin appeared.

"You guys are late." He said matter-of-factly

"Well you got here after us so wouldn't that make you late too?" Tidus pointed out. _Oh boy._

"No I arrived here exactly on time!" Merlin said forcefully

"But you got here _after_ us. If you were on time you would've come here at the same time as us." Tidus argued

"Just drop it!" Selphie shrieked, apparently she was feeling as annoyed as I was. Merlin still looked offended though.

"We were hoping you could maybe teach us a bit more about magic" I explained

"Well of course! None of you can even produce simple flame yet!" Merlin exclaimed. He got offended looks from Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus. Merlin led us up to a colorful room on a floating piece of what had looked like a floor. We spent the next hour burning, freezing, and electrocuting furniture with Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells.

"Now we shall work on the more difficult yet highly useful spell Cure" I tried not to moan. Magic was not thing apparently. So far I had had little success with these spells. My lightning bolt was always the smallest, my flame the weakest, my miniature blizzard the miniest._ Is that even a word? No I don't think it is. _One by one everyone tried their Cure spells. Wakka didn't get anything. Tidus got maybe a glimmer of green. Selphie was able to produce a few small green orbs and was praised by Merlin. I frowned while she beamed at him.

"Kairi your turn" Merlin said, turning towards me. I silently sighed and summoned up Blossoming Strength. _I think you would be good at that. After all the more light you have in your heart, the better you are at healing! And that means you'll be the best!_ Sora's voice echoed in my head. _Sora…. That's right I'm a Princess of Heart! I should be able to do this easy. Alright Sora I __**will**__ be the best you just watch!_ I put Blossoming Strength out in front of me. I could feel the energy flowing through me

"Cure!" I declared. Green orbs swirled around me, momentarily blocking my view. When it was over everyone looked at me in surprise.

"Kairi that was great!" Selphie explained. And as if a spell of silence had been lifted everyone immediately began complimenting me and congratulating me on the amazing cure spell. I blushed and smiled. _See Sora? I told you._

_*Namine*_

I walked alongside Roxas as he, Axel, Lauren/Fury, and I headed towards the 3rd district. We had just finished buying all kinds of items and were now heading over to meet everyone else.

"Namine you really should learn how to fight!" Axel said. Lauren nodded. They had been discussing how much I needed a weapon and fighting ability for the past 25 minutes.

"What do you want me to do? Hit Heartless with my sketchbook?" I said sarcastically

"And Nobodies!" Lauren reminded me energetically. I rolled my eyes _Do you understand sarcasm?!_

_**Why yes I use it quite often actually**_

I smiled. As strange as it may seem, Lauren and I were actually pretty good friends. No one had ever expected that because it seemed like we were complete opposites but we actually got along pretty well.

"You should learn to fight" Roxas said, entering the conversation. "That way I won't have to protect you everywhere we go!" he said him and Axel cracking up. I hit him in the shoulder with my sketchbook.

"Ow! You know that really could be a good weapon. And you could use your pencils as spears!" Roxas said, adding in the last part with a snap of his fingers.

"Those pencils could be deadly if you aimed them right" Axel said with a wink. Him, Lauren and Roxas all cracked up.

"Awww come on Namine! It's _funny,_ you can laugh!" Lauren said. I just rolled my eyes and looked away. And 'away' coincidentally happened to be Riku.

"Hey Riku!" I yelled waving my hands, momentarily forgetting my shyness around him. I had met him once before and he seemed like he was on the right path. I guess this was that particular path's finished product. An amazing guy who would do anything to protect his friends. Yep that sounded like a finished product to me. _Whoa am I talking about people or like, art drawings?_

"Back off Namine. We all know Riku is Lauren's future boyfriend not yours!" Roxas joked. Lauren and I both blushed.

"Hey guys what's up?" Riku said when we had reached him.

"We were just talking about future couples. Anyone in mind?" Axel asked slyly.

"I change that 'hey guys' to a 'hey girls'" Riku responded. We all laughed just as Sora showed up.

"What's so funny?"

"The girls over here have some juicy gossip" Riku joked, gesturing to Roxas and Axel who shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh you mean _your_ Nobodies?!" Lauren shot back, defending the two guys.

"Can I see your sketchbook for a second?" Sora asked, holding out his hand

"It's a weapon I swear!" Roxas shouted

_**Prepare to be surrounded by slap-happy idiots**_

_As if they weren't already idiotic enough._

**Haha good point.**

_**Very good point. In that case we are about to be surrounded by slap-happy Super Idiots.**_

Lauren and I laughed (Fury doesn't laugh. Like ever) and just as we caught our breath Riku pointed out that my pencils could good for, you guessed it, spears. Which just made us all laugh harder. Kairi and her little group showed up too and we all just broke down into fits of laughter for no apparent reason. Everyone was crying through their laughter, including the guys, none of whom I'd ever seen have tears coming out if their eyes.

"Don't worry guys you can stop crying. I promise laughter doesn't make you lose brain cells." I said through my laughter. Lauren already knew what was coming next. We both said it together

"Which is good because you guys don't have any to lose!" We both yelled together. Sure it wasn't that funny but in our current states it was the most hilarious thing anyone had ever said. Eventually we were able to get onto the gummi ship which Sora set on an auto-pilot course for Olympus Coliseum (which was good because none of us were really in a state to drive the gummi ship). I managed to make it to my room before collapsing on my bed and laughing my self to sleep. _We are all going to wake up with sore faces from smiling so much. I totally call it._

***sigh* Slap-happiness. What a wonderful thing. Well that's all for this chapter! If you have any more questions go ahead and ask and I'll answer them as soon as I get them! Or at least a chapter or two after I get them…. Well hope you liked the chapter! If you haven't noticed by now it's mainly a Riku and Lauren story but I've been trying to include everyone! If you feel like there's someone you wanna see more of don't hesitate to tell me! Hope you liked the chapter! Review please**


	14. The Underdrome Cup

**So chapter 14 is here! Sorry that took so long- school has finally arrived (Booo) which means I will only be able to update weekly (Double Boooo). So this chapter is kind of short, my apologies. I have one question and two requests! I did one of the requests (Sorry Sweet Nightmares Goodbyes! I will work on getting another slap-happy moment in though!) So here is the one question I received:**

**Young Gun Kid:** **does Namine still have her power to change people's hearts?**

**And the answer is: read like the 1****st**** paragraph of this chapter (aren't I the worst….well actually that isn't all that bad. Whatever though read the chapter!!)**

_*Namine*_

I sighed as I ran my brush through my hair. Riku and Lauren's usual morning argument/ battle for the bathroom could be heard from even _my_ room! And I was in a completely different hallway than them! We were supposed to arrive to Olympus Coliseum in about an hour so I decided to just stay in my room and finish up a sketch that I had been working on. My drawings could still re-write the memories of whoever I drew so I needed to be very careful to only draw things that were real. I was working on a drawing that included Sora, Roxas, Kairi, me, Riku, Axel, and as I recently decided, Lauren and Fury. I was using a separate sheet of paper for every person and their Nobody but I was going to put them all together as one big picture when I was done. I had finished drawing Sora and Roxas and, as of two nights ago, I finished drawing Kairi and I. The layout was the same for each person: The Other was standing on the smaller island, the same one the party had been on, staring out towards the ocean (which wasn't in the picture), the sun was setting and their shadow was behind them. Except their shadow was their Nobody. Sure it was a little degrading to me Roxas and Axel but it was the truth, Nobodies were just shadows of their Other. I took out my colored pencils and started drawing Riku's outline. Eventually I got to the coloring part. The thing I wasn't looking forward to drawing was his eyes. Why couldn't his eyes just be green or blue?! But _no_ they had to be _aquamarine_! The color was fairly easy to mess up and it took me a few minutes just to find the right color mixture. They needed to create an aquamarine colored pencil. If they had already made one they forgot to tell me. As I began to draw Axel I started to wonder about how to draw Lauren and Fury. Fury wasn't her Nobody so that wouldn't be right, plus she would probably be pretty pissed if I made her Lauren's shadow. I decided I would draw them back to back, with Lauren having a white wing and Fury having a black wing. I had just finished Axel's outline and was searching for my black pencil so I could start on his boots and work my way up when there was a large bump, signaling our landing in Olympus Coliseum.

Our landing had been so rough all my pencils tumbled to the ground.

"Crap!" I said before getting down on my knees to pick up my pencils before they rolled under my bed. I could here Riku yelling at Sora from down the hall.

"Sora that was the shittiest landing ever! I could've done better blindfolded!"

"Oh I'm Riku! I'm sooo cool! I can fight with a blindfold! Except I can't beat anyone! I can't even beat Roxas and he sucks! Oh I wonder why! MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I'VE GOT A BLINDFOLD ON AND CAN'T SEE WHAT THE HELL I'M DOING!!!"Lauren yelled, doing a surprisingly good Riku imitation.

"I don't suck at fighting!" Roxas yelled.

"Well today will be interesting" Kairi said. I had been so focused on getting my pencils back I hadn't noticed the door to my room open. She bent over and grabbed the black pencil, the last one I needed and handed it to me.

"Thanks. And your right, I'm sure today will be interesting" I said before getting up and dusting myself off. We headed to the control room where Sora was lowering the ramp that led off the ship. The sun blinded me for a moment before I could see Olympus Coliseum.

"Wow" was all I could say as I walked down the ramp. The place was truly magnificent and I gawked at everything there was to see; true the world's name, there was a large coliseum directly in front of us. To large bronze gladiators with clashing swords stood over the entrance. The rest of the area was covered in sand and was closed in a large rectangle of white marble. I stepped off the ramp and did a 360 turn, taking in everything. I also noticed that behind me was a large open door leading downward. The way down was dark with swirling black clouds surrounding the entrance. _That must be the entrance into the Underworld._

"Well that's where we are going." Sora said, pointing to the entrance into the Underworld. I gulped, the place looked incredibly unpleasant.

"Don't worry; the place isn't too super bad. A little dark and dreary, but not to awful." Sora said, putting a hand on my shoulder. Roxas shot him an angry look. Sora walked off towards Riku and Kairi. _I wonder what that was about…_

"So you ready to go Namine?" Roxas said, walking up to me.

"S-sure" I stuttered, showing that I was anything but ready. He gave my hand a comforting squeeze before heading towards the entrance to the Underworld. I noticed Sora heading towards the entrance to the grand coliseum.

"Hey where are you going?" I called.

"I'm gonna tell my friend Hercules that we are here" he replied

"Can I come?!" _Anything to delay my going into the Underworld, I'll do that when I'm dead. _Sora laughed and motioned me towards the Coliseum. I ran towards him, no, _sprinted_ towards him. I didn't even stop when I heard Roxas stomp his foot in frustration. _I wonder what his problem is…_

_*Riku*_

As soon as I stepped into the Underworld I felt a surge of cold air hit me and noticed goose bumps immediately begin to appear on my arms. Two small…things were approaching us. One was fat, short, and red and the other was tall, skinny, and blue. _I'd rather be the blue dude. Why do I even care?! _Both were only about three feet though at most.

"Who are you?" the blue one said, his voice was shrill and he sounded kind of panicked.

"You know me Panic!" Lauren said, pointing to herself. Panic and the little red guy looked at each other.

"We'll call up Hades right away!" Little Red Guy said. Lauren quickly waved her arms in protest, alarm flashing in her eyes. _She knows Hades? Well of course she does. Because almost everyone is best friends with the Lord of the Dead! _

"No Pain don't do that" she cried. There was a poof of smoke and Hades stepped through.

"Noooo" Lauren groaned

"Well if it isn't Lauren my man! Err, girl!" Hades cried, heavily putting his hands on her shoulders, looking genuinely excited. Lauren just looked upset. "Boy do I have good news for you! A new tournament is about to opened in the Underdrome and guess who the final opponent will be?!" he said conversationally. Lauren and Hades reminded me strangely of that relative you hate who absolutely adores you and has to talk to you about things you couldn't care less about for your entire visit. Hades just then seemed to notice us.

"And who are they? Last time I checked you seemed like more of a loner. Other than Fury of course" And on that note Fury stepped out of Lauren and gave Hades a full toothed grin, which was probably the scariest thing I had ever seen in my entire life.

"They're with me" Sora said, running down the steps towards us with Namine running a little bit behind him. Hades' smile immediately vanished

"Well if it isn't the little Keyblade twerp" he said before flicking Sora in the side of his head. A small flame came off his fingers and Sora went flying backwards. _Someone needs to gain a few (hundred) pounds. _

"So what lame Underworld monsters are you in the mood to watch me defeat today huh?" Sora asked, putting his hands on his hips. Hades' eyes lit up.

"I have a tournament I'm sure your just _dying_ to enter" he said, putting extra emphasis on the word dying. _That probably isn't a good sign coming from the Lord of the Dead. _I noticed Lauren give just the slightest shake of her head._ Didn't think so._

"Well Lauren, I have so much that I need to tell you about the Underworld since it has been so long since you were here last." Hades said, waving his hand around.

_**Oh I wonder why**_

_Why did Fury smile?_

**Because I enjoy freaking you out. Anything else?**

_Why are you and Hades BFFs? And since when did the Lord of the Dead, or you for that matter, have a BFF?!_

_**Hades told me he likes me because since I came around the Underworld has never been fuller.**_

_Do I detect sadness?_

**Not from this half!**

_Your enthusiasm scares me._

_**It scares everyone. Even me.**_

_Are we actually having a friendly conversation here?!_

_**You're a bastard**_

_Shut the hell up bitch!_

_**Aahhh that's better**_

Then Lauren was dragged off by Hades to what I assumed was his personal throne room or death chamber or whatever you want to call it.

_*Sora*_

"The Underdrome Cup? Sounds like a big deal that comes with an even bigger trophy!" Tidus said when Pain told us about the tournament. It sounded like we weren't going to get much of a chance to talk to Hades and I could only hope that Lauren remembered to. After a few minutes of planning we decided to go ahead and enter into the tournament to a.) Kill some time and b.) Give Kairi, Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus and chance to get some Heartless fighting in. And since you couldn't really _die_ in the tournaments (_Thank you Gods)_ this sounded like a pretty safe way to do it.

"So are you guys interested in entering?" Pain asked

"What are the details?" I asked

"Group fighting, no items or Summons, limits and drives last longer than usual. No time limits or points. Just plain old fighting." Pain said in a bored voice. _Well I sure hope Auron didn't enter or we're toast._

"Alright count us in!" Panic led us over to one of the magical boats. Once we were all inside it began to glide smoothly over the black water towards the Underdrome.

The rounds had been fairly easy so far. And that meant a lot considering we had just finished the 8th round. We got a small break though before the semi-final and final round. So far we had fought:

Round 1: 3 Darkballs, 5 Invisibles, and 10 Neoshadows

Round 2: 10 Gargoyle Knights and 10 Gargoyle Warriors along with 5 Dragoons

Round 3: an Anti-form of everyone (Anti-me, Anti-Kairi, Anti-Riku, etc)

Round 4: 10 Angel Stars, 10 Bit Snipers, and 5 Invisibles.

Round 5: 5 Assassins, 6 Dancers, and 10 Creepers

Round 6: A Chimaera

Round 7: A Behemoth

Round 8: 2 Stealth Sneaks

"The Keybladers (_nice name Mr. Commentator)_ are now entering the Underdrome for their semi-final match!" a voice boomed and I could hear the crowd roar and cheer. With a sigh I got to my feet and followed everyone else out and into the rink. What was waiting for us were the Volcanic Lord and the Blizzard Lord. I summoned up Ultima weapon and charged.

_The final match! We made it! I was really impressed with Kairi's blizzard spell she used on the Volcanic Lord! I guess Merlin has been doing a good job teaching her! Well I'm sure Lauren is going to be jealous she wasn't with us to win the Underdrome Cup!_

The commentator announced us and we all got to our feet and headed out to meet our next opponent(s). Standing before us were two girls; one with blond hair and blue eyes, who was holding the Two Across Keyblade in her right hand and the Ultima Weapon in her left, and the other with black and red hair, red eyes, wings, and a certain deadly black sword in her right hand. The final opponents of the Underdrome Cup were Lauren and Fury.

"Hey guys. Someone told me you were dominating this tournament so Fury and I decided to go ahead and put a stop to that" Lauren said casually. She swung her blades around casually before positioning them, Fury following suit and getting ready for the fight. I tightened my grip on the Ultima Weapon and got into position. _This is going to be one hell of a fight._

**  
**  
**Yeah that chapter was pretty short. Sorry, it was mainly a build up for the next chapter. *warning* all Riku fan girls (and guys I suppose) out there I'm not sure if you'll particularly **_**like**_** the next chapter but I'm not sure. Sorry-its just one chapter. So that's my little warning (Now you can't say I didn't warn you) If anyone would like to tell me who they would like to win the tournament I really don't have a preference so majority rules. Review please!**


	15. Falling

**Happy Labor Day everyone!!! Man this chapter was pretty long and it took me **_**all day**_** to write! I am going to go ahead and apologize to Kairi fans, Riku fans, and Lauren/Fury fans right now. I hope you still like the chapter though. Thanks everyone who reviewed and if there are any artists out there who are reading this please check out my profile because I'm having a contest that you should consider entering! Enjoy the chapter!**

_*Sora*_

"There will be an interesting twist to this final round!" the commentator announced. People cheered in response. I never broke eye-contact with Lauren. "In this round the goal will be to knock the entire opposing team into the water!" _Wait, what water?_ Suddenly an ear-splitting crack was heard and the ground began to shake violently. The dome was just a large circle-shaped area of black rock. It was completely flat and where the rock ended large stands rose high up into the air where people, monsters, and some minor gods sat watching the battles. The cause of the shaking and the painfully loud sound was the outer part of the fighting area collapsing, revealing a large green colored lake that surrounded the expanse. A disgusting smell rose up from the lake and I was beginning to wonder if I was on some hidden camera show. They seriously expected us to be willing to get thrown into _that?! _The Underworld's version of a sewer?! Hades had to be crazy. Fury smirked

"**Well good thing I can fly" **she said smugly. Then she was suddenly knocked backwards by something. When she stood up a thin strip of what looked like black smoke had painfully pinned her wings to her back so she couldn't fly.

"Now that the sides have been evened out" that commentator announced. Fury hissed while Riku laughed and I did my best to hide a smile. "Let the final round begin!" Riku went straight for Fury which I suppose was smart considering she went straight for him. I started towards Lauren but Selphie beat me to it, sprinting straight for Lauren twirling her jump rope around over her head. She swung the jump rope towards Lauren but Lauren blocked it with the Ultima Weapon. The rope wrapped itself around the blade and Lauren spun around a few times before letting the blade go all together. Selphie flew backwards now that she no longer had to strain to hold herself up and stumbled over the edge of the stadium into the green water below. I lunged towards Lauren but she was ready for me and quickly blocked my first attempt at attacking her. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Wakka throw his blitz ball at Fury who just caught it, spun, and threw it back at him, hitting him in the stomach with such force that he went flying backwards and fell over the side of the platform and landed in the water with a loud splash.

I focused my attention on Lauren and did my best not to worry about how the rest of my team was doing. Lauren and I had only been fighting for a minute or so when Tidus came up behind Lauren yelling "SNEAK ATTACK!!!" only to have Lauren punch him in the stomach. Then she did the strangest fighting move I had ever seen. Using her index and middle fingers she hit Tidus on the backs of his legs, his wrists, a few points on his back and on the back of his neck. He fell over and just laid there in the ground, paralyzed as I watched dumbfounded. She lifted up her right index and middle finger to her mouth and blew on them, like she was blowing the smoke off a gun.

"If you're going to perform a sneak attack try not to yell sneak attack as you're doing it. It kinda ruins the whole point" she said before pointing her blade at him. Tidus wasn't able to do anything and I was still trying to process the fact that she had just taken down Tidus without even hitting him once with her blade. In fact she had just rendered him defenseless by using only four fingers.

"Aeroga" and then that was it for Tidus. _I hope he doesn't drown._

_**Actually water is what destroys the paralysis. I have no idea why though.**_

_Weird. Back to fighting?_

_**Back to fighting.**_

We both fought for who knows how long but I didn't really feel like Lauren was trying her hardest. She would just easily block any attack that I aimed at her.

"Are you even trying?" I asked her. She shook her head in response

"I wanted to tell you what Hades told me. Then I'll kick your ass." She told me, easily deflecting my attack. I laughed and we both fell into a rhythm of casual and easy attacks so Lauren could tell me what was going on.

"So Hades said that there weren't anymore Heartless here than usual other than the ones that are included into the tournaments. He said he hadn't heard anything about the Heartless population in any of the other worlds though either. So basically our main reason to come here was pointless. But I did get to be chosen as a finalist for a tournament. Which is awesome. It's on my bucket list actually." I stopped fighting and the Keyblade disappeared from my hand.

"Really?!" I asked her with a laugh.

"No not really" she said before lashing out at me with the Two Across.

I was barely able to summon up the Oblivion (one of my favorite forms of the Keyblade) to block Lauren's attack. I managed to stop here blade maybe an inch away from my face. I went into Final form and noticed Riku's pissed off expression and Kairi's surprised expression before they both disappeared. Lauren and I fought with Fury watching from a distance. The amount if light I was giving off would probably weaken her if she got too close to me. Lauren was barely able to deflect my blades and dodge my attacks as I came at her relentlessly. I felt my drive gauge and incredible strength begin to falter and I knew I only had another couple seconds. I rose up into the air and pointed my blades down towards Lauren and watched as a huge white light began to appear at the ends of each blade. I let them shoot down and Lauren just managed to back flip out of the way. Time seemed to slow after that.

I fell to the ground and phased out of Final Form just as I landed. Lauren was just finishing the back flip she had used to dodge my attack. Once she landed she immediately jumped back into the air and spun around. The Ultima Weapon disappeared so she only had the Two Across in her right hand. The blade began to glow an electric blue as she spun, her blade parallel to her body. Once she was completely done with the turn she shot her blade outwards and a crescent shaped wall of blue energy blasted me across the stadium. I flew past where Fury was fighting both Riku and Kairi before landing hard on the ground. I managed to get to my feet and braced myself as Lauren sprinted towards me.

_*Kairi*_

I was panting hard as Fury threw yet another attack from her deadly black sword towards me. I managed to feebly deflect it and thanked my lucky stars _again_ that Riku was fighting with me. I knew I would've been hit into that gross water a long time ago if he wasn't here fighting with me. The attack Riku performed was so fast I could barely even register what had happened. From what I could tell Riku had blocked her blade while spinning around and had reached his other hand behind him and grabbed Fury's free hand. Then using the momentum from the spin he flipped her over his head. She landed hard on her wings and I heard her black wing make a gross popping sound.

Doing my best to cover up my disgust I turned to Riku.

"Nice one!" I said giving him a thumbs up. He smiled at me but a look of horror manifested itself on his face. He pointed behind me and I heard him yell but it didn't really register with me as to what he was saying. I turned just as Fury brought down her black sword. I didn't even have time to raise up my blade to defend myself. All I could to was scream as a searing pain ripped through my body. I felt my knees give out and then Riku's hands gently lowering me to the ground. I saw Sora running towards me with a terrified look on his face, yelling something that I couldn't hear for the world seemed to have gone silent. No more cheering from the crowd, no yelling or the metallic sound of blades hitting. Nothing. The world had gone completely silent. Fury got strange look in her eyes and lunged towards me, only to be restrained as Lauren brought Fury's hands up behind her back. Sora's face blocked my view and I could see his lips moving, but no sounds coming out. My vision was too blurred to make out what he was saying. My sight faded as my hearing had and then everything went black.

_*Riku*_

Everything was chaos. _Was Kairi ok?! Was she even alive? Dammit Sora can you move so I can check?! _Lauren's voice rang out through the insanity.

"Riku! I need your help." _She hurt Kairi. Half of her could be responsible for killing Kairi._ I gently slipped my hands out from underneath Kairi's back and stood up. Sora had used some weird key-like thing that went with the gummi ship and apparently the gummi ship was now on auto-pilot and was coming towards us. I looked at Lauren, to furious to say anything. Fury was still struggling against Lauren's grip but I could see two completely bizarre things in her eyes: pain and desperation.

"Blast me off this rock" was all Lauren said. _She said me. So she hurt Kairi. Not half of her. All of her._ I pointed my blade at her and shot her off that freaking rock. Both halves of her. _I hope that hurt. Then maybe she will get a small idea of how Kairi feels._ The gummi ship landed in the middle of the stadium and I turned to see Sora picking up Kairi. We locked eyes and he nodded towards the gummi ship. I started to run. It was time to call Radiant Garden.

It had taken her and hour. _Aerith._ It had taken _Aerith_, the best healer in probably all the worlds an _hour _to save Kairi's life. An hour of healing. An hour wasn't really that long, but when one of your best friend's lives was on the line it was endless. Kairi was asleep now, with both Sora and Roxas at her bed side. Aerith had insisted that she needed rest, and would probably be unconscious for a day or two. But Roxas was constantly asking if they could wake up Kairi so he could see Namine, and Sora just wanted Kairi to wake up so he could see if she was ok or not. In the end Aerith had forced them both into chairs where they had both fallen asleep. Tidus had asked about whether or not we had remembered to grab out trophy on the way out. I think he had been joking. But either way he was now locked in a closet down the hall. I gently stroked Kairi's palm with my thumb. Aerith promised she would be ok but every inch of me was screaming to do something. _I know I never told you but you mean a lot to me. I love you like a sister and that's never going to change. No matter what, I promise. I wish I had told you sooner because now I'm afraid it's going to be too late._ I felt tears threatening to overwhelm me so I got up and left the room, left the house, left the town. There was someone I needed to find.

_The Great Maw? _That's what this map told me. It was just a giant plateau in the rough shape of a circle. It was pitch black now with no moon. I could barely see in front of me but that was also probably because of the fact that it had started to rain. A few seconds later it was pouring. I sighed when I heard a clap of thunder. If I didn't head back that would risk Sora waking up, realizing it was storming, and being torn between leaving Kairi to come find me or letting me fend for myself in the middle of the night so he could stay with Kairi. I turned to leave when a large bolt of lightning lit up the sky. It was only for a second, but I was able to make out the shape of a girl standing in the middle of the plateau. I was going to guess that the girl had blond hair. Completely forgetting about Sora I turned around and headed towards her. I stopped when I was about 5 feet away from her. She turned her head ever so slightly to side the side and glanced at me before turning back. Another flash of lightning turned her figure black and I suppressed the urge to attack her.

"Is Kairi ok?" she asked calmly, the anger I felt threatened to overflow

"It took Aerith an hour to heal her."

"Is she asleep now?" the inside of me was complete chaos

"Yes."

"That's good" I can't do this

"Why didn't you come and check on her yourself, if your so curious?"

"I didn't think you guys would want me around right now. After what happened I figured I should keep my distance for a while." _She finally said something right. I think I'll be ok, as long as she doesn't-_

Lauren turned around to face me.

"Look Riku I'm really sorry about Kairi" -_say that_

"Don't tell me that you're sorry!" I yelled at her. Her eyes went wide in alarm, but she didn't say anything "You hurt her! You hurt Kairi! You could've killed her and I know you don't regret it! You're some sort of freak that feeds off other people's pain! You _enjoy_ it. I saw that look Fury got. She looked _hungry_."

"Look I can explain that" Lauren said but I was beyond listening. I was in some kind of rage. I summoned Way to the Dawn slashed the blade across her body, watching as red immediately appeared, instantly seeping through her clothes. I watched as she staggered backwards, gripping her side where I had cut the deepest. Something inside of me was taking control. Something that wasn't supposed to be there anymore. But he was. My anger at him and my anger at Lauren blended until I couldn't tell which was which anymore. The corners of my vision turned red. Or maybe it was just my imagination. The fact that Lauren hadn't fallen over, like a normal person would have, infuriated me. It just proved how inhuman she was, how she was defying the way things should be.

"Why don't you fall?!" I yelled at her, before punching her in the face with such force her head snapped back, her body following. She landed on the ground hard and cried out at pain. I felt a smirk play at my lips. She gently put out her hands and a strange black shield spread out from her hands and completely surrounded her body. Then she pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her bag and began to write. _What the hell is she doing? Is this some kind of joke?!_ She sat there and continued writing before finally putting the pen back. The strange shield vanished and she let go of the paper, letting the paper blow towards me. I caught and glared at her before holding it up to my face. Rain droplets had smeared the writing but I was able to make it out.

Dear Riku,

I'm writing this note because I think if I say anything it will just make you even angrier at me. You guys can all go home now if you want. I'll handle the Heartless problem and I promise I will never go anywhere near your world again. Once I'm done destroying the Heartless there's someone I know who has been looking for me for a long time. I'm sure he'll kill me when I find him. I know you don't want me to tell you this but I'm really sorry for everything. If you want you can just tell everyone that I disappeared and you were out here looking for me. You don't have to tell them I left to find someone who would kill me.

-Lauren

P.S tell Axel and Roxas not to look for me when you get the chance. They'll understand. Bye Riku. I am genuinely glad that I met you.

I looked up to see that she was standing up and wasn't facing me. A black fabric began to weave itself around her until it had formed a black cloak that looked familiar. Ansem the Wise had given me one identical to that. She slowly lifted her hand back and fastened it around the cloak's hood. She pulled it over her head just as another flash of lightning appeared. I imagined that I could hear her sigh before she started walking off. She vanished into the darkness and I was glad to see her go. I just ignored the small sensation I had in my heart as I turned around and headed back towards Radiant Garden. Tomorrow I would be going home.

_*Sora*_

So Lauren had gone out the night before and hadn't come back. That wouldn't have surprised me except Riku didn't come back until late and I could've sworn I saw blood on his clothes. Cloud had finally kicked me out of the house because I spent all morning asking Aerith every question I could think of about if Kairi would be ok or not and I suppose I annoyed Cloud in the process. He told me I needed to leave the house for one hour before I was allowed to come back. I checked my phone for the twentieth time. I had only been gone twenty minutes. I was almost to the castle where Maleficent had kidnapped the Princesses of Heart to when I saw someone lying on the ground. She had blond hair. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and started running.

_*Riku*_

Sora had only been kicked out for 45 minutes when he came exploding back through the door.

"Sora Cloud's going to kick your ass because you've only been gone 45 minutes. I promise all Kairi has done is sleep while you were away" Then I saw the girl in his arm's. _Oh god dammit. _

"Aerith!!!" Sora yelled, looking around frantically. His eyes fastened on mine. "Here hold her while I go look for Aerith!!!" he said before dropping her into my unwilling arms.

"Hey Sora hang on a second!" I yelled after him but he ignored me. He ran back out the door, probably heading for the market. I looked down at Lauren and sighed. She was unconscious, pale, and her clothes were covered in dried blood.

"Cloud was right. You really are impossible to get rid of."

**Oh so sad. I did have this scene planned out from the beginning though. I hope you liked it though and I will try to update soon! Oh and just in case you didn't know when Riku meant someone that was taking control he meant Xehanort's Heartless. If you have any questions you know the drill! The next stop is the Pride lands. Review please!!!**


	16. Best Friends For Never

**Chapter 16 is here! 16 is my lucky number actually and that makes you all very lucky! Why? Because this is over twice as long as all my other chapters! Thank you to my reviewers but I am sad to say that one of reviewers mysteriously disappeared********. I tried to make this chapter a little funnier to make up for last chapter. And yes I did steal this chapter's title from a Clique book. **

_*Lauren*_

I stretched out my arms and yawned before slowly opening my eyes and coming face to face with the most terrible creature in all the worlds-Riku. I gasped and my eyes widened. Riku just smirked. Then I remembered what Fury and I had decided. While I had been unconscious Fury and I had one of those special little mental conversations just like we had back on Destiny Islands. Our decision echoed in my head:

**Be his friend?**

_Think about it- if the moodiest guy in existence starts to accept us and get along with us then so will everyone else!_

**But I don't really care if we are accepted or not….**

_You can finally stop sharing a body with me 24/7_

**Riku = new best friend! Got it!**

_That's what I thought_

Be his friend. Ah the _real _Mission Impossible. Cue the theme song because I'm going in!

"Hey there room mate. Do you have anything better to do than stare at me until I wake up?" _yeah this is gonna go well._

"Actually no. I'm supposed to wait until you wake up before I can leave so good-bye." Riku said, giving me an unenthusiastic wave before heading to the door.

"Wait I love you!" I yelled, then Riku gasped, fell over, and I think fainted.

"What the hell?! Don't you remember me?! I'm Riku! The guy you hate more than anything?!" Riku said getting about an inch away from my face and screaming.

"I know that your Riku stupid."

"Well then if you love me I should probably move my face _away _from yours." He said, backing up. I just rolled my eyes.

"I just wanted to get your attention dumbass! I'd sooner confess my love to Namine or Tidus or some other random person."

"Why the hell do you want _my _attention?" Riku asked, raising one eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall of our room. _Subject change time!_

"Isn't there something you're supposed to do before you leave?" I asked him accusingly, nodding towards the little white intercom box that was built into the side of our room. He sighed and walked over to the little white box before pressing the red button which would play his voice down in the control room.

"Lauren's awake" he said unhappily. "Unfortunately" he added, glaring at me. I smiled back and waved. "And she's suffering from brain damage" I frowned at that little comment.

"Lauren's awake?! We will be right down!!!" Kairi's voice screamed into the intercom, causing Riku to gasp and move his head away from the intercom.

"Inside voice please Kairi, we don't need the worlds we are passing to hear you" Riku said patiently into the intercom. _Oh right. We are on the gummi ship! Headed….? WHOA WAIT KAIRI IS AWAKE?!_

"Kairi's awake?!" I shouted

"A little slow on the reactions aren't you? Yeah Kairi's fine now. She does have a scar but it's not really all that noticeable. She has no fever and healthy beating heart" Riku said with warmth in his voice that was unfamiliar to me. I sighed, _Healthy beating heart…._

"What's your problem? Oh wait I know- your bi-polar aren't you?" I gave Riku a wtf look and shook my head.

"Then what's the issue?" he said, walking over to my bedside and sitting down on the ground, resting his head on his arms.

"Since when do you care?"

"Well considering that I almost killed you I should probably try to make it up to you." _Hmm making Riku my friend may not be as hard as I had thought it would be._ I responded to his statement by picking up his right hand and curling all of his fingers into the palm of his hand except for his index and middle finger. Then I gently placed the two fingers over my heart.

_**Close your eyes and listen.**_

Riku obediently closed his eyes and listened to the rhythm of my heart. _B-bmp B-bmp….B-bmp B-bmp… B-bmp._ Riku opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Every third beat is slower." I nodded.

"So when I said healthy beating heart you thought of yours?" I nodded again.

"Are you going to die of heart issues?" I was flattered by the fact that he didn't sound hopeful.

"Maybe I already died" I said softly, releasing Riku's hand.

**Ok that's giving away enough!**

_Alright whatever you say Ms. Murder._

Riku stood up and shook his head, like the conversation that had just happened had completely confused him. It probably had. Then Kairi…and Sora….and Selphie…and Tidus….and well pretty much everyone burst through the door into our room. I was immediately embraced by Namine and Selphie but everyone else mainly hung back. I noticed that Sora was standing ever so slightly in front of Kairi, shielding her from me. I held my hand out to Kairi and I saw both her and Sora's eyes widen. Kairi stepped forward but she didn't take my hand.

"Alrighty then Selphie can you help me up?" everyone laughed at the misunderstanding and Selphie help me stand up. I caught a reflection of my self in the mirror that hung directly across the room from me and was surprised by the fact that I actually looked pretty good. No bed head or anything.

"Kairi I am sorry for what I did to you. It wasn't on purpose. I'm glad you feeling better" I said, looking her straight in the eyes. Everyone was immediately silent, waiting on Kairi's decision of whether to forgive me or not. She smiled

"I'm a pretty forgiving person" she said and everyone came forward to talk to me and ask me how I was feeling. It was almost as if Kairi's forgiveness had destroyed the invisible barrier between me and everyone else. I was their friend now; I was part of the group.

"The Pride lands huh? What the hell is that?" I asked Riku as we both lay in our own beds that night. Our beds were side by side with maybe a foot or two in between. Riku sighed and sat up to face me. I had my hands behind my head and was lying on top of the sheets, eyes wide open

"I want to go to sleep. Shut up and let me!" He said and I did my best to focus on his face and not his shirtless 6 pack.

_Sometimes being a girl is incredibly annoying._

**Especially when half the girl wants to throw up at the same thing the other half of the girl is obsessed with!**

_Obsessed? Don't you think that's a bit har-?_

**No.**

"I have no idea what the Pride lands is. I asked Sora and he just got this weird look in his eye and said 'you'll see'"

"So Sora has a little surprise in store for us huh?"

"Looks like it"

"Awesome"

"Zzzzzzz"

"That only represents sleeping if you're reading a book stupid"

_I am asleep!_

_**Whatever. You're so lazy it's not even funny!**_

_Coming from the girl who NEVER sleeps, I suppose you just wouldn't understand._

……………_**..**_

_Am I alone here? Hellooooo? Bitchy Roommate you must answer me. Ah screw it._

I heard Riku sit up to look over at me. What he saw was me pretending to be asleep.

"Whatever. Good night"

"Night" I said before sliding out of my bed and crossing the room soundlessly and opened the door up as little as I could to slip out. I was halfway through the door when the light from the hallway hit Riku in the face. He opened one eye and groaned.

"Where are you going?" he whined, obviously exhausted

"I'm going to the training room" I replied, mocking his whiney attitude and voice. He sighed before getting out of bed, putting on a shirt (much to my relief) and heading over to the door where I was standing.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, pointing a finger at his chest. _How the hell is he so freaking tall?! I don't like being looked down on!_

"I'm going with you"

"Riku I'd sooner devote myself to helping Kairi find the 'perfect prom dress' than I would try to figure out how your strange mind works. One minute you want me to shut the hell up so you can sleep and the next you want to come and train with me for a couple hours in the middle of the night. Did you fall on your head while I was unconscious?"

"No I didn't fall on my head." He said with a roll of his eyes, as if that particular piece of knowledge should've been obvious to me. "And if you go and train until like 3:00 in the morning you're just going to wake me up when you come back in so I might as well come with you." Riku said in the same way someone would the say 'the sky is blue'. I did my best not to roll my eyes at Riku's so-called 'logic'. _Make friends with the enemy. You can do it. Except for in the mornings when you're trying to get to the shower first. If he gets in your way that bastard is going down!!! I don't give very good friendship talks…._

I headed down the hall without another word with Riku following close behind me. After a couple turns we made it to the training room. We both headed over to the virtual heartless area which was a large glass box with a control panel right outside so you could set your level of difficulty and maybe pick what specific kinds of heartless that you would like to fight.

"It's like a giant video-game" Riku said as we stepped into the large fighting area.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?"

"We are going to fight heartless. Not each other…"

"It was rhetorical question" After a thoroughly awkward, awkward silence the virtual heartless took pity on us and began appearing. We both summoned up our blades and prepared for the heartless as they appeared…one by one? A heartless appeared in front of Riku and just stood there until he killed it, then another appeared. The heartless would only appear one at a time and no others would appear until the one before it was killed.

"This is so boring!" Riku yelled and viciously decapitated a virtual heartless, causing it to fade into virtual darkness. He stormed out of the BGB (big glass box) and walked over to the control panel which also came with a small microphone. He tapped it experimentally and a high pitched sound shrieked through the BGB. I covered my ears and screamed

"STOP TAPPING THE MICROPHONE!" Riku grinned and lifted his index finger of the microphone. I stood up and took my hands off of my ears.

"Thank you. Hey can you even hear me?" I asked, after all there was a thick glass wall in between us. Riku nodded before tapping the microphone again which caused a short blast of the evil sound to rip through the BGB.

"Hear this bastard!" I yelled before giving him a rude hand gesture. Riku put his mouth up to the microphone.

"If you yell into that thing I swear Riku I will shave your hair off in the middle of the night and burn it!" Riku closed his mouth, his ingenious plan foiled.

"That was rude" he said, having his voice echo throughout the BGB. It was actually pretty disorienting. "Just for that I'm setting this thing on its hardest level. I grinned and back flipped to show my excitement. "Never mind" I shot him another rude hand gesture. Riku sighed loudly into the microphone which also hurt my ears before coming back into the BGB.

"Now what smart one?" I asked him sarcastically.

"The thing had a password so I couldn't have changed the level even if I had wanted to." He said unhappily before heading over to a stationary virtual heartless, his hands in his pockets. The heartless looked at him with his yellow eyes. I smiled

"Aw he's so cute" I said, sitting down with my knees underneath me. I patted the ground in front of me.

"Come here little guy!"

"Only you would attempt to train a shadow heartless as your pet" Riku said with a shake of his head. I frowned at him. "Whatever though. Say good bye to Little Shadow" Riku said before summoning up his blade. Just before he could hit Little Shadow (as he had named him) I shot a fire spell at him which blasted him across the room and into a wall.

"Ow." He said flatly before slowly getting off the ground. I sat down next to Little Shadow and rubbed his head. I smiled happily when he looked at me.

"Isn't he so cute Riku?! He's my pet and he shall be mine forever!" I declared, and then my adorable little pet decided to scratch me with his razor-sharp heartless claws.

"Forever's up" I said emotionlessly before slashing the Oblivion through Little Shadow.

"I would love to see how you would react to having a dog…well actually you would probably kill the dog so I take that back" Riku said and I tried not to gasp. _Riku just used the 'L' word! _I was more surprised than anything else. That he would actually say the word 'love' while talking to me. Heaven forbid he ever actually says that _he _loves _me._ That would be bad. Then another heartless appeared and our conversation was over. With one glance at each other we knew- _this was war._

Riku took off sprinting towards the single heartless and I charged after him. Once I was directly behind him I timed it out so when his right foot was bent so the heel was pointing up I jumped, using his heel as a little step and landed on his shoulder which threw him off balance. As he fell I jumped again, as high into the air as I could go and then threw my keyblade down, hitting Little Shadow's cousin dead on.

"2-0" I said to him once I landed.

"First to 100 wins" he growled at me while I gasped in mock surprise.

"But what about you're beauty sleep?! Just from looking at you I can tell that you need it." Riku opened his mouth to say something else but another heartless appeared and we were off running again.

I woke up, realizing the nice relaxing morning that consisted of me kicking Riku's ass and getting to the bathroom first was no longer a possibility. A cold dark sensation swept over me and I immediately recognized the feeling. Just being in _their_ presence gave you goose bumps but this was something else entirely. I could practically taste the terror they _gave_ and the darkness they_ owned_. I got out of my bed and sprinted to the control room. Once I got there I practically slammed my face against the glass wall at the front of the ship which showed everything in front off us. I didn't see a thing. I leaned back and blinked, confused. But it was here. It had to be, either that or I was going insane. My eyes turned red and I gasped at what I saw. It was like a giant hole, dark and endless. It was a giant tear in the very fabric of space and it went down impossibly deep. It sucked up anything that got too close to it like a black hole. I looked at the world that I assumed was the Pride lands. _No way. We can't land. We would be way to close. How do I talk myself out of this one?!_ Just then Sora came in.

"Hey Lauren. What are you looking at?" he asked, coming up beside me and carefully scanning the area. I quickly turned my eyes blue again.

"Is that the Pride lands?" I asked, beginning to get an idea. Sora nodded before pointing towards a large brown rock that was visible even from here. The rock was the point closest to the hellhole, _as I like to call it._ _There's no way we can get that close. Oh boy…_

"Well that's cool. Anyways I'm gonna go back to my room before Riku takes the shower first. Dude takes forever to get ready."

"Ok. I'll send a message over the intercom when we are about to land" Sora said before heading over to where a map of the Pride lands had been laid out.

"Oh what's that?" I asked, turning around. Then I 'tripped' and fell right onto the controls which made us nosedive straight down towards the side of the Pride lands opposite the hellhole.

_This was all a total accident of course._

**Oh yes, complete total accident.**

_I can't believe how close we are going to be._

**It's almost awkward**

_It's definitely dangerous_

**But that's completely natural.**

_Are we gonna survive this crash landing?_

**The ship cost like 5 million munny. We better not die or I'm coming back from the afterlife and suing**

_I'm sure Hades will let you._

And then I felt something weird happen inside of me, almost like a felt a light go out, or rather, a light come _on._ Our ship hit the ground hard before I had a chance to react, and the ship disappeared as it does when we reach a world, causing our entire group to tumble out into the Pride lands.

_*Namine* _

I wearily got to my feet ignoring the strange feeling that I had. Something wasn't right. I looked around for anyone that I recognized. I heard the sounds of people getting to their feet and I could smell my friends but I couldn't see them. _Wait a sec, since when can I smell my friends but not see them?! What is going on here?! _I looked around at the landscaping and realized how huge this place was! The tree's shot straight up and went up so much higher than any other trees I'd ever seen. I took a step forward and that was when I realized what was wrong-I was standing on all fours! _Wow Namine how embarrassing._ I lifted my hands off the ground only to fall backwards with a thump. For some reason I couldn't maintain my balance on my legs. I rolled over and stood up on all fours again and looked down at my paws angrily. _Wait- paws?!_ Surely enough I had little white paws. I flexed and little razor sharp claws came out of my paws. I opened my mouth to scream but all that came out was a small roar.

"SORA WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

_*Lauren*_

I stood up and blinked, trying to figure out what that weird sensation was. Except now I had two weird sensations. Riku stepped out from the bushes and shook his head.

"This place has way too many plants! I can't see where I'm going" he ranted, turning to me. Ok so now I had two strange sensations and the strangest thing I had ever seen before in my life. Before and after I had died. I looked down to see that I had four black paws with blood red claws coming out. _Oh that's so effing cool. I am Lauren the murderess lion!!!_ I let out a snarl and attacked Riku, flipping him backwards.

"Pinned ya!"

"Hey what's your problem?! Besides I wasn't even paying attention" Riku the Wimpy Lion complained. I stuck my tongue out at him before stepping off of him. He stood there for a minute before barreling me over, but I rolled over too, trapping Riku on the ground once again.

"Pinned ya again!"

"This is so messed up"

"No I usually kick your ass at everything. Must I give you a summary of last night in the training room?" I asked, narrowing my eyes to show him I would if I had to.

"No not that! We aren't wearing any clothes" _Well that just stops everything. Tell a girl she isn't wearing clothes and she will freak out._ I jumped off of Riku and snatched leaf off one of the plants, holding it in front of me.

"Eeewww Riku you perv! Of course you would notice something like that!! Haha oh wait. You aren't wearing clothes either." I said with a grin, at least I wasn't alone on the clothes issue. Sure we were lions and lions didn't wear clothes but it was still incredibly weird to think about walking around like this. Riku looked down at himself and frowned before lying down on the ground laying his head down on his paws so all I could see was his face.

"Well this is awkward" he said. I nodded in agreement before dropping my leaf. Riku closed his eyes and covered his face with his paw.

"I really don't wanna see that" I stomped up to him dramatically and sighed loudly in his face.

"Riku can you at least try to be mature about this?! We are lions and lions don't wear clothes so you're just going to have to deal with it!!" I said with a snarl

"Nice fangs there. I guess Fury decided to show up a little in your appearance too. Oh and the red eyes…and black tail…fur stuff whatever you want to call it" I looked back and surely enough the little tuft of fur on the tip of my tail was black with a red streak through the middle.

"I must be the most badass lion in existence." I said showing off my fangs. Riku stood up and shifted from paw to paw, obviously uncomfortable with his lack of clothing.

"Ok this isn't fair! You are one year older than me Riku! Just _one_ year! So why are you a teenage lion and I'm a little cub?!" Riku smirked and picked my up by the back of my neck.

"Ew let go of me Riku! I don't want you to carry me. This is gross and disturbing and weird! Drop me!"

"We are lions and this is what lions do so just deal with it."

"I will bite you and Fury's venom will kill you. Drop. Me." I opened my mouth and gently pressed my fangs against his shoulder just to prove that I would do it. Riku threw me across the clearing.

"You're way to short. Now try to keep up. Sora and the others are this way" Riku said pointing with his tail. I jumped up and swatted his tail to the ground, trapping it under my paw.

"What are you doing?!"

"Now you are mine to command for you are helpless with out the powers of your tail!" I said giving an evil laugh. Riku bared his teeth at me.

"Mine are scarier!" I bragged before letting Riku's tail go. Riku was maybe two feet above me and his body was white with a small silver mane and aquamarine fur at the end of his tail to match his eyes. His claws were black and deadly. I realized he was so much bigger than I was that I could probably curl up on his back and go to sleep. Not that I would.

"Let's go get the others. So this was Sora's surprise huh?"

"Only Sora would consider the opportunity to walk around with four paws, a tail, and zero clothes a surprise" Riku replied.

"Will you drop the clothes thing already?!"

_*Kairi*_

_I am a lion? Talk about disorienting._ I looked around at everyone else and was dazzled by the different colors and sizes that everyone was. Sora was little dark brown lion cub with a spiky brown mane and a spiky little tuft of fur at the end of his tail. He still has the same blue eyes and he was still wearing his crown necklace. His paws and belly was a creamy sort of white. Namine was a petite little blond colored lioness with white paws and a long slender tail but the fur at the end of her tail was full of all different kinds of colors. I guessed that it represented the fact that she was an artist. Roxas was a blond lion too but his fur looked a bit darker and messier than Namine's. He had black and white fur at the end of his tail and his front paws were white and his back paws were black. _I wonder if that's because of the rings that he wears…_ Axel was a bigger lion than the rest of us. He was like a teenage lion! He had a small spiky red man and the rest of his fur was a rusty reddish color. His tail was half green like his eyes and the other half was silver. His paws alternated between green and silver too. _Green for his eyes and then silver because….oh because Riku is his Other!_ Selphie was a chocolate brown lion with yellow paws and yellow fur at the end of her tail. Tidus was a sandy brownish blondish color with a tail and paws that seemed to match the rest of his body at first but once I looked a little closer I realized they were more of a wooden color- like the wooden sword he fought with. And then Wakka was a bright orange lion with a blue and white paws and a blue and white tail to match his blitz ball.

Then Lauren and Riku came out through the bushes. Riku was the same size as Axel and was silver and aquamarine. Lauren was a blond lion with red eyes, red and black paws and tail, and black paws with red claws. It almost looked like she had more Fury in her than Lauren.

"Hey guys!" Lauren said as she stepped up to greet all of us. And then it started to rain.

"I blame this on you" Riku said, looking at Lauren. She growled and tackled Riku and within moments it was a full-on catfight, erm, lion fight. _Those two will never get bored of trying to kill each other. _

"Come on you guys! We need to head up to pride rock! That's where Simba is and I bet he will let us sleep in his den for the night because it's so huge!" Sora said

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Pride rock is the gigantic rock over there that even a blind person could see" Axel said, Sora nodded his head in reply. Roxas and I managed to get Lauren and Riku to separate and then we were off. All of us fell a couple of times other than Sora probably because he was used to it. I had to admit though being a lion was a lot of fun. We got to fight with our blades in our mouths which were kinda neat. And we could run _so _incredibly fast! Within just a few minutes we were at the entrance to Pride Rock.

_*Sora*_

I was so incredibly excited to see Simba that I didn't even notice how distraught he was. At least not until Riku picked me up to keep me from running up to Simba.

"Sora just in case you have suddenly gone blind look at your friend- he's really upset about something. I think he's having an argument with that lioness" then almost on cue the lioness shouted right in Simba's face

"You will _never _be Mufasa!" then she turned and ran into the den, crying. Simba sighed before turning towards us. His eyes widened

"Sora you're here! Um well I'm sure you've probably already noticed that this isn't the best time" Simba said, walking over to us. He was bigger than Riku and I did my best to hide my pleasure when Riku had to look up at him.

"You see, that was my daughter and it seems like she's fallen in love with Scar's chosen son. He was hand-picked by Scar to kill me and I exiled him just a few minutes before you arrived. Now my daughter is furious with me" Simba explained and we all just stood there open-mouthed. Then we all started talking at once.

"Sora you know a king?!"

"You exiled your daughter's true love?!"

"You have a daughter?!"

"Dude how long was I gone?!" I exclaimed. Simba just shook his head miserably.

"It's cold and rainy. Why don't you guys stay here for the night and then we will talk more in the morning" Simba said. I realized he probably wanted to be alone for a little while.

"Ok we did have a long day. A good night's sleep would be nice. But won't we disturb your, um, daughter if we go in there right now?" I asked, nodding towards the den. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get used to thinking of Simba as a father.

"She will probably sleep in the upper part of the den. It's closer to the rain but it's more secluded. And I'm going to let her have some privacy for now. I'm sure by the morning she will understand that Kovu tried to _kill_ me. And I had no choice but to exile him." _So this Kovu is Scar's son…wow I obviously need to come here more often._ We all filed into the large den and Simba said good night before heading back out. I ran after him

"Hey King! You need your sleep too!"

"I'm going to go talk to Rafiki. He's staying right down there in that hollow" Simba explain, pointing to the hollow with his tail. I nodded before heading back in. Roxas and Namine were sleeping next to each other with Axel on Roxas' left. Lauren was curled by Axel and he had one paw wrapped around her lazily. Selphie, Tidus and Wakka were all asleep next to each other by the far wall of the den. Everyone was asleep except for Kairi and Riku who must've been waiting for me. I walked over to them and we all curled up together. Kairi was asleep almost immediately and even though Riku wasn't moving I could tell by his eyes that he was still awake. You know, because they were open and all? I however kept rolling over, trying to get comfortable. Something didn't feel right and my heart told me it had to do with this Kovu and Simba's daughter.

"Screw this Sora! If you aren't gonna hold still I'm not staying over here" Riku whispered angrily before getting up and walking closer to the entrance. He sat down angrily, curled up into a little silver ball and closed his eyes. I on the other hand fell over because I had apparently been leaning on Riku without even noticing. I curled up next to Kairi and shut my eyes, annoyed with Riku's overdramaticness. _That's not a word is it? No Sora its not. _

_*Lauren*_

I woke up from a nightmare that included my killer and red eyes with a jolt. Then I noticed Axel's paw that was wrapped around me and my eyes narrowed. I picked up his paw with my teeth and dropped it on his face. Then I noticed Riku the Silver Furred Bastard Lion. He was curled up close to the exit of the den and was shivering and trembling in his sleep. I walked up to him quietly and realized the problem. It was still pouring outside and it was freezing and from Riku's position you got a full blast of freezing cold air and were constantly getting hit with drops of cold rain.

"Stupid lion. I figured once you got animal instincts you wouldn't do such stupid stuff. But apparently not. Instead you decided to freeze to death in your sleep" I sighed and shook my head. _Riku Riku Riku… but I can't let my new 'friend' freeze to death now can I? No that wouldn't be very good._ I gently grabbed the back of his neck with my teeth and pulled him back into the den. I set him down against one of the rock walls and laid down beside him, hoping my body heat would warm him up some. I gently licked his cheek, hoping it would at least calm him down a little bit so he wouldn't be shaking as much. I buried my head in his silver mane, trying to warm him up as much as possible. And then without even planning on it I fell asleep.

"Holy shit, get away from me!" Riku exclaimed, leaping into the air which caused my head to slam down against the rock floor.

"Your welcome for saving your life" I murmured, getting to my feet. The sun was just coming up and the rain had stopped.

"From where I was standing it looked like you were curled up next to me, you were _all_ over me" Riku said with an evil gleam in his eyes. I narrowed my red eyes; if looks could kill Riku was three seconds away from dying.

"Where are you going this?" I asked him cautiously, not sure whether or not I wanted to know the answer.

"If you liked me you could've just said instead of practically sleeping on top of me" Riku said, playfully batting at my cheek. I snarled and leaped forward, grabbing his ear and pulling him to the ground. I put my paw on the side of his face and stuck out my claws just enough so they were poking him but not so much that they pierced the skin.

"_Me _like _you_?! I know that you're a very self-centered, very vain person Riku but seriously?! I think that rain froze all your brains cells along with the rest of your body." But Riku refused to have his moment ruined.

"Whatever you say sweetheart. I promise I won't tell anybody if you did ask me out" I growled and swiped my claws over his face, leaving a red trail.

"SWEETHEART?! EXCUSE ME?! I was trying to do you a favor by keeping you from freezing to death! I only slept within a ten foot radius of you because you were_ freezing to DEATH! _You're welcome for saving your freaking life!" Riku growled and lunged at me and then we continued fighting until everyone else was awake.

"Really guys?! Really? You had to start fighting this early" Sora said unhappily, getting _up_ just as Riku pinned me _down._ I tilted my head backwards to look at Sora.

"Soraaaa Riku's being a self-centered bastard!" I complained in a little kid voice. I kicked Riku in the stomach with my hind legs. Sora just shook his head

"Are they always like this?" Simba asked coming into the den. Everyone nodded

"Sir I have some grievous news to tell you!" a blue bird said, flying into the den.

"What is it Zazoo?" Simba asked, his joking tone gone. Zazoo looked at us nervously, indicating that it was probably something private.

"It's alright Zazoo; you can say it out loud. Sora is the one who convinced me to come back and defeat Scar. I trust him and his friends with even something as serious as you are leading me to believe."

"Well I'm afraid that your daughter, Kiara, has gone missing"

**Duh duh duuuuuuh! The longest chapter ever is done. It was 13 pages! That's a pretty big deal to me. So everyone's a lion, Riku is vain, Lauren is being nice to Riku, and Simba's daughter has gone missing. How chaotic! Stayed tuned for the next chapter!! Please review**


	17. And The Pieces Come Together

**Sorry that I didn't update last week- I typed up the chapter but my computer did some weird glitch thing and the entire chapter disappeared. I think the Heartless stole it. Well anyways the story is getting in pretty far but just as a heads up here in a few chapters a huge change is going to happen (just trying to build up the suspense) I have a poll now on my profile if anyone wants to check it out (please vote!) I so far have 0 entries for my drawing contest : ( Well maybe I will cancel the contest and try again some other time. Well anyways hope you enjoy the chapter! (sorry its not a very long one)**

_*Sora*_

_Simba's daughter is missing?! Wow he must feel awful since it is probably his fault…oh I'm assuming she ran away. Maybe I should ask._

"Do you guys think Kiara was kidnapped? Or that she ran away?" I asked, noticing uncomfortably as all heads in the room shot towards me.

"Well there's no doubt in my mind that she ran away" Simba said before hitting himself in the face with his paw. "I'm so stupid! I should've seen this coming and prevented it! I could've at least taken a moment to check on her last night. She may have left hours ago."

"Well then I suppose we are just going to have to go out and look for her!" Kairi said to Simba, stepping forward while Lauren shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"Well we should definitely look for Kiara but the whole reason we came here was because of the Heartless…" Lauren said, her voice trailing off due to the dirty looks she got from Selphie and Kairi. _It's pretty obvious what they think we should do. _Kairi, Selphie and Lauren started yelling at each other about what to do. I shot Riku panicked glance but he just shook his head, not willing to get into this one. I stuck my tongue out at him and he just gave me this what-did-I-do?! look.

Then an idea sprang into my head. I roared as loud as I could, thanking the cave walls which made my voice sound louder, and waited for everyone to give me their attention.

"Lauren has a good point- we did come here to fight the Heartless, but Kairi and Selphie have a good point too. We can't just let Kiara fend for herself. So what should we do?" I asked, hoping that no one had a suggestion so I could stage mine.

"Well I could send out the lionesses as a search party…but the Pride lands is too big it could take them days to search the whole thing." Simba said, sounding more and more like a worried father.

"Well then why don't a few of us go and fight Heartless while the rest of us make a second search party to go look for Kiara" I suggested, pretending not to notice Kairi's admiring gaze. Although in reality it was the only thing I saw right then.

_*Roxas*_

And I thought my Other didn't like me. Lauren, Axel, Riku, and I were going to set out as an elite Heartless killing team and our goal was to destroy Heartless in all parts of the Pride lands. It was pretty obvious that he had picked the best fighters, other than himself, to go. He probably just wanted to spend more time with Kairi. Whatever, I couldn't pass up an awesome opportunity like this-not even for a little extra time with Namine. I was going to spend the entire day kicking Heartless ass with my best buddy Axel, my second best buddy Lauren, and…Axel's Other, whatever that guys name was.

_*Selphie*_

I slowed down for just a second, taking a deep breath, before sprinting to catch up with everyone else. I was completely exhausted but I didn't want to hold everyone up, especially considering how important it was that we find Kiara. It turned out that Kovu's mother had been exiled many years ago and would probably hurt Kiara at the first chance she got. Her name was Zira. I shuddered, _what a horrible name._ Just then Sora picked up the pace a little and I was forced to sprint desperately just to keep up, and I was still the furthest behind.

"Hey guys I need a break! Can we stop for a minute?" Tidus called out. Simba slowed down reluctantly and Sora nodded.

"But just for a minute!" I shot Tidus a grateful glance and he smiled at me. I plopped down on the ground and did my best to control my breathing but after about two minutes of that I just gave up.

"Alright let's get going!" Sora called to us, standing up. Kairi groaned

"Sora you have to be kidding!" she cried

"Kairi it's important that we keep moving! The Pride lands are huge and besides- Simba is counting on us to help him find his daughter" Sora told her gently. She sighed and gave a small smile which spread to my face too. _People are hooking up everywhere! First Lauren and Riku and now Sora and Kairi! Man I wish I had a boyfriend!_ I looked over at Tidus and blushed, _yeah right Selphie, like he would fall for you._ Just then I came to a sudden halt, a random thought but important thought all the same popping into my head.

"Hey guys! Do any of you know where Namine is?!"

_*Riku*_

"Oh son of a bitch!" Lauren yelled before collapsing onto the ground, breathing hard. "I'm so freaking tired! How many Heartless can one place have?!" she moaned. I voiced my opinion by stepping on her tail. She whirled around to face my and snarled, her red eyes glaring into my aquamarine ones. I simply picked her up, why, because I knew it would piss her off even more.

"If you're not going to walk then I will carry you. See if you like that better" I said which came out badly since I was carrying her. She squirmed, trying to make me let go of her

"Riku you are messed up! Drop me now or I will bite you" _Again with the venom filled fangs._

"Well you two just give it a rest already?" Axel said with a sigh. I tossed Lauren a few feet before rubbing my tongue with my paw.

"Too much fur!" I complained while Lauren just smirked

"That's what you get!" she said and we all continued our trek through the Pride lands. And then it started raining. _Of course! It had to start raining._

_*Namine*_

_Whoa wait what was that?! _I quickly skidded to a halt and lifting up my nose. Simba had shown us something that had Kiara's scent on it and this seemed familiar, except maybe a bit weaker. _I better tell Sora! _I turned back to where the group had been to see….nothing, nothing at all. The group hadn't noticed me stop and must've kept running! I frantically looked around for someone, anyone! Nothing

"Oh no. Ugh man why do I get myself into these situations?!" I groaned, collapsing onto the ground. _I wish Roxas was here._ With a sigh I got up and headed off in the direction of, what I suspected, was Kiara's scent.

_*Lauren*_

_My. Mouth .hurts. And I think I lost my tail a few miles back…no wait it's still there! Why isn't anyone answering me? Fury? Hellooooo? Anyone?! Wait a second…_

I came to a complete stop, trying to figure out this strange phenomenon. Fury was never quiet, if anything she talked most when I didn't want her to. I felt sort of...empty. I remembered the strange feeling I had had when we had crash landed on the Pride lands. I had felt something from me vanish and Fury had been silent since. I tried to summon up here black sword in the place of the Two Across….nope that isn't working. Oh God

"Hey are you coming?" Riku yelled back at me, annoyed

"Oh my God!" I screamed, curling up on the ground. "Oh my God I killed my Dark Being!" At that statement Roxas and the others came running to my side.

"What do you mean?" Axel pressed. I quickly explained what I had figured out.

"I don't think you killed her" Roxas said. I gave him a look that said: go on. So he did "Well Sora can't go into Drive Form here in the Pride lands because Drive Form is made for humans, or at least, people with clothes on. Maybe because you're a lion Fury and you aren't separate beings. Maybe she doesn't have the ability to become a lion like all of us can, since Dark Beings are probably more specific on appearances." I did my best to take that all in. What Roxas said had made sense, and that could also explain my Furyish appearance.

"Well I still don't like the idea. It feels like Fury is gone and it's uncomfortable." I said, shifting from two paws to the other two.

"Missing your she-devil half huh?" Riku asked, but since he got glared at by Roxas and me he figured out that he should probably stop.

"Let's just keep going" I said. Now that I knew the reason of the strange feeling it felt more exaggerated than ever. I felt…lonely. I was so used to sharing my body, my _mind_ with someone else. Being alone like this was so strange. I couldn't even talk to her. I sighed and began to slowly follow the others a few feet behind.

"This way! Come on I can show you!" I turned my head in the direction of the strange voice. I could see them fairly well through the rain, but that meant that they could also see us.

_Guys be quiet! Look- I see someone._

I waited for them to do something but they didn't. _Oh right- the telepathic abilities were one of Fury's traits, not mine._ I ran up to them and frantically gestured in the direction of the two strange lions.

"Well why didn't you just say something?!" Riku whispered as we ran for cover.

_*Namine*_

_Kiara where are you?! _I mentally cried. I was lost, and had become lost on some possible chance of finding Kiara, if the scent had even been Kiara's to begin with! And then the scent got a lot stronger.

"Kovu what are we going to do now? My father is going to be furious with me!" _Kovu? That was the name of the guy that Kiara was in love with. She must have run away to meet him!_

"What if the two of us ran away? We could start our on pride" a voice said, which I presumed to be Kovu. I smiled at the mischievous tone to his voice. _He sounds like Roxas._ I crept through the bushes to see a small clearing covered in ash. A small wind blew, causing the ash to blow around and reveal healthy green grass underneath. There in the center of the clearing were Kiara and Kovu. Kovu was a dark brown lion, almost black. I hadn't seen any other lions like that throughout the entire Pride lands! He had a small scar next to his left eye. Kiara was a beautiful lioness with sparkling eyes and shining blond fur. They seemed like opposites of each other. _If Kovu is Scar's son then they come from completely different worlds. _I remembered what Sora had told us about Scar's treachery and how he had reached his end.

_The way they look at each other…they are in love. Oh if I tell Sora about this than the two will be separated forever! How could I do something like that?! They are like two halves of a whole! I would know since I'm only half a person._ I quietly backed away through the bushes and once I was a safe distance away I started to run.

_*Lauren*_

So of the two lions only one had mentioned their named and that was the girlish looking lion named Vitani. I honestly couldn't tell if that lion was a boy or a girl. I was going to go with boy though just for the hell of it. He led the lioness who had been with him towards the outskirts of the Pride lands.

"Should we try and stop them?" Axel asked quietly. I shook my head

"It's a long shot but they might know where Kiara is!" After maybe a half an hour of stealthily following Vitani and this lioness we reached the very edge of the Pride lands. The lioness exchanged a few words with Vitani before sprinting into the Outlands, which was what the area outside of the Pride lands was called. It was where all exiles were sent, exiles like Zira.

"I told you I had a bad feeling about this!" Riku said

"No you didn't Riku! You didn't say anything." I replied and Riku just sighed loudly. Vitani paced back and forth but there was something about him, something…relaxed. I didn't like it. Then the lioness appeared again.

"Where are they?" Vitani asked her

"We are _all_ right here. You have done well Vitani. Mommy is very proud of you." A voice said. The voice sounded awful, like nails on a chalkboard. I flinched away from her voice while Vitani swelled with pride. But the next thing that happened filled me with complete dread. Twenty maybe even thirty lionesses came from the Outlands, each with a bloodthirsty look in their eye.

"Now we shall kill Simba and that traitor Kovu!" Zira snarled and she led the group of exiles towards Pride Rock.

"But Simba isn't there!" Roxas said quietly

"We have to find Simba and the others before Zira does!" I said and we all nodded before heading out into the Pride lands, hoping that we could somehow find the others.

_*Namine*_

"Come on! We are almost there!" a voice said, urging on a stampede of footsteps that I hadn't noticed until now. I quickly leapt into a small group of bushes, hoping that my scent wouldn't make me obvious. A large group of lionesses, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust, were heading straight for Pride Rock! At the head of the group was a lioness that looked more horrifying than the others. Somehow I just knew who it was. _Zira _

I looked back in the direction of where I had seen Kiara and Kovu. Simba had said that Zira hated Kiara and considered Kovu a traitor which meant that they were both in a danger. I sighed as I changed direction and sprinted back in the direction of Kiara and Kovu.

I burst through the bushes, taking in a large breath so I could scream. I saw two pairs of eyes look at me in synchronization.

"Zira is leading an ambush to Pride Rock!" I yelled and the pairs of eyes widened with shock.

"Oh this is bad!" Kovu said and began pacing.

"We have to go back!" Kiara said urgently.

"Kiara in case you forgot- I'm exiled"

"Well maybe my father will forgive you if you tell him about the ambush!"

"Ha I doubt it"

"Well either way I can't just let this go! My father is still my father and my pride is still my pride. I can't just sit by while Zira attacks them!" Kovu thought for a minute before reluctantly nodding his head. He turned to me

"Do you know where Simba is?"

"I think I do. The pride is split in half to look for Kiara. The lionesses are in a group while Simba is searching with a group of my friends." Kovu raised an eyebrow

"Your friends" I nodded

"You can meet them later! Let's go" I said before running towards where, I hoped, Simba was.

_*Sora*_

"Oh this is bad! Namine's gone and Kiara is missing. Oh what next" Simba said, putting a paw over his face.

"Come on if we give up we are never going to find them!" Then Namine, along with who I presumed to be Kiara and Kovu, burst into the clearing.

"Well from the looks of it giving up actually works pretty well!" Tidus said with a grin. Kairi and Selphie both rolled their eyes.

"Kiara" Simba cried before running up to her "I thought I had lost you"

"Father, Zira is attacking Pride Rock" Simba stood back, his eyes wide.

"But no one is at Pride Rock" Simba said

"Well we know that- _now."_ A voice snarled form behind us. I whirled around to see a large group of lionesses, each of them prepared to attack. "We went to Pride Rock to see that no one was there so we set off to find you. Very good Kovu! Leading us straight to Simba, you were loyal the entire time, you even went on with our plan" I was almost positive that this lioness was Zira, the mother of Kovu.

"Zira is going to ambush Pride Ro- never mind" Riku said as he, Roxas, Axel and Lauren all burst into the clearing.

"See Kiara?! I told you that he was a traitor! He's been playing you this entire time!" Simba said accusingly.

"It's not true! She's lying" Kovu growled

"Father Kovu has been with me this entire time! He couldn't have been plotting with Zira" Kiara protested, but Simba ignored her.

"Mother and son, both traitors to their pride and they will be punished together." Simba snarled

"Kovu didn't betray you" Lauren said, sounding almost bored. Everyone turned to look at her and she smiled. "Zira knows that Kovu is a strong opponent and she doesn't want to fight him, which is why she is trying to turn all of us against him" Lauren explained.

"We should've had her on our team" Vitani said

"Silence!" Zira snarled, and Vitani bowed his head

"Zira you have a choice- you can leave now or you could fight, in which case you _will_ lose." Simba said, even though we all knew the answer.

"I shall avenge Scar's death!" Zira cried, and with that the exiled lionesses charged into battle. "You shouldn't have exiled us Simba! While you were all lounging around we were getting stronger due to the harsh environment that you put us in! You are no match for us!" Zira cried above the sounds of fighting. Then in a lower voice she snarled "Kill anyone who gets in your way but Simba is mine" I summoned Fenrir as Vitani lunged at me but Lauren attacked him from the side, barreling him over. Noticing that Tidus was having to fight two lionesses at once I charged into the battle.

**Ta-da! Probably not my best work since I kinda rushed through it. I hope you guys still liked it though! I tried changing POVs a lot in this chapter. Liked it? Loved it? Wanting to scream you hated it so much? You guys will have to tell me what you think. Review please and I will update soon!**


	18. Death And Life

**Aahhh the weekend. Thank you everyone for reviewing! I'm up to 26 reviews now. My whole art contest thing didn't go so well…nobody entered ( D: ) so I'm just gonna hold off on that and maybe try again some other time. Just as a heads-up chapter 20 is going to be a big one! I had one question so here is that:**

**Young gun kid- Will Sora ever go into Anti-Form?**

**Me- Probably not in this story…maybe in the sequel…oh god I just ruined that. Oops (YOU WILL NEVER GUESS MY ENDING THOUGH!) Go read the chapter before I spoil anything else!**

_*???*_

"So they are really right there?" I asked, wonder and fury battling inside of me. I reached out to touch the image that was before me but I quickly drew my finger back when I saw the man who was sitting next to me frown disapprovingly. His opinion was the only one that mattered. Even if I was his closest ally he could still kill me immediately without a moment's hesitation. I wouldn't try to stop him because if by some miracle I killed him then the rest of my kind would tear me apart. That's how things went.

The image in front of me showed a world that was right by the entrance to our realm. It was a world where nothing but animals roamed, except these animals could talk with a human-like intelligence. There was a huge rock that was visible even from space. They were right there.

**How did she survive?**

The anger of the man sitting next to me shook my entire being and I wondered whether or not I should answer. I decided to answer

_Do you want me to send someone after her?_

**Strictly to keep an eye on her, I will kill her personally, just not yet. If they are seen I will kill you along with them, and I would hate to lose my closest ally.**

I stiffened at his words, had he been reading my thoughts? He must be getting more powerful than I suspected. I saw his hand lift and reflexively braced myself to be struck but he just motioned a few of his fingers harmlessly forward. Two figures emerged from the black corners of the room….

**I have a job for you two.**

Two twin smiles greeted his request.

_*Kiara*_

"Kovu!" I cried, once the battle had started Kovu had disappeared. Desperation raged inside my body-I didn't know how to fight! And we were losing. "Everybody _stop!_" I cried, trying to cling to those last traces of sanity I had. Everyone stopped and turned to me, much to my surprise. Then words bubbled up inside of me and I was speaking, words coming easily with ideas and thoughts. "Look at us-what difference to you see? Outlanders and those who live here in the Pride lands. We are all the same. Look around, what differences do you see?" I glanced towards my father, who was staring at me in wonder. "A wise king once told me that all things are one! And that everything is connected. I think that from now on there shouldn't be an Outland and a Pride land, instead there should be one shining kingdom in its place. Those of you who have never been exiled, can you forgive those who made a mistake and let them return home?" Everyone nodded, since the lionesses had showed up just a few minutes before. "Do those who have been exiled accept our apology? And wish to rejoin our pride?" One by one lionesses stepped closer to me and I realized that I couldn't tell the difference anymore. We were all one pride. Finally Vitani stepped over too, leaving Zira alone.

"You are all traitors! Traitors to Scar!" Zira cried. Simba stepped forward.

"Zira, this has to stop. I'm willing to forgive and forget if you are." Simba said, holding out his paw. Zira snarled and swiped his paw away.

"I will never forgive you for taking everything I have!" Zira yelled before running off. I ran after her without even thinking. I chased to where a large ravine was, packed with debris at one end. Zira came up from behind me and tackled me, sending us both rolling down towards the bottom of the ravine. About halfway down a piece of rock jutted out a few feet and when Zira and I ran into it I managed to catch my balance and stood up. Zira, on the other hand, went flying over the sides. I quickly looked down to see her clinging onto the side of the rock. Below her was empty space then the muddy bottom of the ravine.

Suddenly I heard an ear-splitting crack and looked up towards the debris-packed side of the ravine. The rain was causing the debris to begin to fall away! Then all the mud, and branches gave out, sending water pouring into the ravine-and it was coming straight for us! The dirty water surged forwards and I turned to run back up to safety, then I heard the sound of Zira's claws against the rock, she was slipping! I quickly reached my paw over the edge of the rock, straining to reach down as far as I could.

"Zira...take my hand" I gasped out, stretching my paw out to her. Zira refused, slipping down further. "Zira please. I can help you" I cried, I didn't want Zira to die; despite all of the things she did she didn't deserve to die. The water rushed by underneath us and Zira's eyes widened in terror. She reached her paw up to grab mine, but as she did her claws reached the end of the rock. With a look of terror and shock crossing her face she fell into the water below with a silent splash. Simba came down to where I was and I buried my face into his mane.

"I'm sorry Father. I tried"

_*Lauren*_

So now that everything was right again it was decided that we would head out. Walking would be pretty hard to get used to but I figured if I gave it a day or two I would get used to it again. Kovu and Kiara were given permission to be together, and Simba had destroyed all exile-related decrees that had happened. The Outlanders could finally come back to their pride. Sora said we would be heading to, what was it called, Atlantica! I'd heard of the place but so far had never actually been there. Something about it had kept me away but I couldn't remember what.

Everyone was celebrating back at Pride Rock but I had decided to go out and explore a bit more. The fact that half of me was missing bothered me to no end. I almost wanted to hear one of Fury's annoying and rude comments. I sighed

"By tonight I won't have to worry about that anymore." Suddenly I felt a cold feeling shoot through my body and my eyes widened in shock. I quickly shoved Fury out of my mind; they couldn't know about her, they just couldn't!

_You two give yourselves away._

I could practically hear the two beings stiffen with shock, and then smirked as I heard them run away. I would have to be on my guard, if they found me nothing good would come of it. I started to head back towards Pride Rock, we would be leaving soon.

Then realization hit me right in the face: _I was supposed to be dead._ My first reaction was to run as fast as I could back to Pride Rock and have some sort of panic attack, which would cause us to leave right away. But then I stopped, and in spite of the dire situation, I started laughing.

"I'm supposed to be dead!" I rolled over on the ground, laughing as hard as I could. "He thought I was dead! All this time! Ooohhh he's gonna be mad!" I walked back the rest of the way to Pride Rock, laughing the entire time. _Oh yeah he's gonna be pissed._

**Shortest. Chapter. Ever. I was kind of in a tough spot since I was basing a lot of this off Lion King Two and there wasn't really much of it left after I finished the last chapter so I am just going to post chapter 19 sometime this weekend! Don't forget about this chapter's ending and beginning, even though they didn't make much sense. They will eventually and if people want me to I can add another excerpt from ???'s POV. If people liked it. Make a little note of how the people communicated-seem familiar at all? Ok that's all I'm giving away. Update very soon!**


	19. Kinda, Sorta, Average Adventures

**I'm back everybody! Sorry I didn't update again last weekend-my computer decided to be mean and have issues that rendered me unable to type up this chapter. This chapter is pretty much a random collection of (almost) everyone's adventures on yet another gummi ship ride! It kinda reminds me of The Tales of Ba Sing Se (Avatar episode. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?) Just a reminder the second biggest chapter (in my opinion) of the entire story is next! Enjoy everyone!**

_*Lauren*_

I heard the sounds of Riku creeping quietly out of bed and silently crossing our room to the bathroom. Instinct yelled at me to leap out of bed and knock Riku unconscious. And then wash away any miniscule amounts of guilt with a nice warm shower. But I couldn't do that today. I heard the door close and Riku turn on the shower.

_Haha sucker_

**This may be our best work ever.**

_Hands down it is._

**I have to say I like Riku. I've never known anyone else whose pain is more entertaining to me.**

_I'm sure if we told him that he'd just feel great about himself._

I relaxed in bed for a few minutes, enjoying that asleep but aware of everything feeling I had. I used Fury's Dark Being ability of shooting black fire out of my hands to entertain myself. I heard Riku yell and I smiled.

_*Roxas*_

"_Only four days of summer left"_

"_Don't say that! You'll give me an ulcer!"_

I sat up straight, panicked. I looked over at Axel, who was asleep peacefully in his bed. His spiky red hair was sticking out in all directions and his hand was dangling over the side of his bed. I shot out of bed and approached Axel's.

"Axel wake up! I need to know what day it is!" I yelled, hitting him with his own hand. Axel opened his eyes for a moment before yawning and closing them again. I grabbed a handful of fiery red hair and pulled, causing his head to leave its resting spot on the pillow.

"Are you awake now?! What's today?! Are there four days of summer left?!"

"Yeah sure little buddy. Whatever you say, four days left…" Axel muttered. I dropped his hair and his face collided with his pillow once again._ There can't be only four days of summer left! That would mean that I met Namine exactly a year ago! And I didn't do anything special for today! _As I got changed I brainstormed up ideas. By the time I was brushing my hair I had two ideas. Idea one- make Namine her favorite breakfast in the world, blueberry pancakes. Idea two- draw a picture of when the two of us met and then give it to her.

Of course I was still having issues. Just blueberry pancakes didn't seem sincere enough! Namine probably had the entire day planned out! On the other hand though, I couldn't draw a straight line for my life. I sighed

"Blueberry pancakes it is"

_*Selphie*_

As I walked down the perfect white hallway of this giant gummi ship I realized that I was depressed. Depression was not something I was used to and the knowledge that I was depressed came as I shock to me. Depression and boredom were what I was feeling. Two very un-Selphieish things to be feeling. I guess life just hadn't been going my way.

It had all started back in the Pride Lands when I realized that I _did _like Tidus as more than a friend and it _was _next to impossible that he would feel the same way about me. I shook my head and sighed. I was helping defend the worlds from the forces of darkness! The last thing I needed to worry about was guy-related issues! I was going to do what all respectable denizens of light did in their spare time! I was going to go train! I dashed off to my room to find my jump rope.

_*Kairi*_

I came out of the bathroom, smiling as the cold air hit me in the face. Refreshing. Then of course my moment of perfection was ruined as Selphie barged into our room. Selphie was my best friend but sometimes I could swear that she put something into those Pixie Stix she was constantly eating. Something unhealthy and probably illegal.

"Where's my jump rope?!" she demanded. Taken by surprise it took me a moment to process what she was asking me. I pointed to a corner of our room where I had put my blade and her jump rope. She ran over, seized her jump rope, and sprinted out of the room. I paused for a moment, listening to be sure our ship wasn't under attack or anything. No sounds of Heartless-related chaos reached my ears so I just shrugged it off as the usual Selphie-strangeness and headed out the door at my own, relaxed pace. I headed towards the kitchen upon request of my growling, empty stomach. Roxas brushed past me as Ientered the kitchen, muttering something about Namine. _Well he's always talking about Namine, so I suppose that isn't all that strange. But why is everyone in a hurry this morning?! _Just then Sora's voice echoed over the intercom

"We are going to arrive at Atlantica in about five hours! So, um, everyone meet in the control room in….four and a half hours!" I smiled to myself, Sora's public speaking skills still needed some work, but at least he was trying!

All my Sora-related thoughts vanished though at the sight of what was sitting on the counter, calling to me. Blueberry pancakes. I smiled and pulled a chair up to the counter. _Yum my favorite_

_*Roxas*_

I smiled as I headed back towards the kitchen, everything seemed like it was going to work out. Namine had, much to my delight, decided to sleep in today. So I had just crept into her room and left a note on her night stand telling her to head straight for the kitchen once she was awake and ready. I turned back towards her room and smiled, this time at my quick thinking. I turned back around as I entered the kitchen and screamed at what I saw.

"Nooooooo!" I cried, as Kairi put the last bite of Namine's special blueberry pancakes into her mouth. She slowly chewed them and sent a confused look in my direction.

"Those were supposed to be Namine's!" I exclaimed. Kairi swallowed before replying calmly, despite the terrible situation that could be compared to our ship exploding suddenly.

"Well Roxas, I'm sorry I ate Namine's pancakes, but she wasn't expecting them _right_?"

"Right"

"So you can just make them again for her tomorrow instead of today _right_?"

"_Wrong_! I made them because Namine and I met for the first time exactly one year ago! Now she's going to think I forgot!" Kairi blinked in surprise before, once again, replying calmly, but I could hear her strained patience

"Roxas you and Namine met on-

"The fourth to last day of summer! Which is today!" Without waiting for an answer I ran off to my room, now realizing my only option was to draw Namine a picture. _Oh God_

_*Selphie*_

With my short-lived outburst of determination gone I slowly walked towards the training room, my head hanging down limply. Even my bouncy brown hair seemed to have lost its energy. I sighed, my jump rope trailing along behind me. I heard a shout, followed by happy and upbeat laughter. I stopped, _oh no_. I was so depressed my mind had started playing tricks on me! The fact that the laughter had sounded like Tidus' seriously didn't help. I rounded the corner to where the training room was and slowly lifted up my head; the door required voice activation to open.

My face lit up- Tidus and Wakka were already in the training room!

"SelphieTilmitt" I said, my voice rushing out so quickly that the computerized speaker had to ask me to repeat myself. It took me three tries I was so excited. Once the door finally let me in I exploded into the training room, a bundle of incredible energy and perkiness once again. Ah, it was good to be back.

_*Roxas*_

_I was finally done!_ It had taken me a half an hour but I had finished! And I could actually tell the difference between me, Namine, and the street of Twilight Town that we were standing on! This was quite an accomplishment. I decided thatbefore Namine saw it I should get someone else's opinion on it. I grabbed the sheet of sketch paper and headed down the hallway, determined to target the first person I found. I didn't expect that person to be Fury though.

I had known Fury for quite a while. I met her and Lauren just after I joined Organization XIII. Of course she still made me feel awkward and nervous, even a little frightened. She gave me an odd look when she noticed that I was coming up to her. She obviously was used to people turning around and going the other way when they saw her. I came up to her and held up my drawing. She raised an eyebrow

"What the hell is this supposed to be?" she asked me, her head peeking out from behind my sketch.

"It's me and Namine in Twilight Town!"

"Ok so why does Namine have two blueberries stuck to her face?"

"Those are her eyes!" _Silence…._

"Ok I know Dark Beings aren't supposed to laugh but oh my God that's just, that's just…wow" she turned around and covered her face with her hands, her body shaking with silent laughter. Once she composed herself she whipped around and seized my drawing.

"This is for your own good. If Namine saw this she would probably skewer you with her sketch pencils."  
Then my beautiful drawing erupted in black flames.

"No! Hey I worked hard on that" Fury dropped the drawing but it was a pile of ashes by the time it hit the floor. _Moral of the story- don't let Fury give you constructive criticism on your artwork._

I sighed before heading towards Namine's room to explain that I had made her pancakes but Kairi ate them and I had drawn her a picture but Fury set it on fire. It's the thought that counts right?

_*Namine*_

I rolled over onto my side to check the time and I was greeted by Roxas ripping up a small note by my nightstand. My eyes widened in surprise and I was able to catch a quick glance at my appearance via the small mirror that was directly across the room from where I was. I looked fine, awesome.

"Roxas what are you doing?" I asked him, yawning. Roxas looked at me guiltily, like he had been caught doing something wrong. I really didn't know what he could've done though. Roxas started talking incredibly fast

"WellImadeyoupancakesbuttheywereKairi'sfavoriteandsheatethemandshewaslikemakethemagainandIwaslikeIcan'tjustmakethemagainbecauseIdon'thavetimeandthenFuryburntmypictureand-

"Roxas! I have no idea what you are saying. Please slow down."

"Well I spent all morning trying to make you something special but everything got ruined."

"Why were you trying to do that?"

"Because it's the fourth to last day of summer! We met exactly one year ago and I wanted to do something special for that! And now I feel bad for forgetting and I feel even worse for not getting you anything" I smiled to myself, Roxas was so sweet.

"Roxas"

"Yes?"

"The fourth to last day of summer is two months from now. You may want to re-check your calendar"

"Oh…."

_*Riku*_

I paced angrily in the bathroom, occasionally glancing up at the mirror, which always caused a pained expression to appear on my face. I checked the time-4:30. Sora wanted us all in the control room by 5:00 and I still hadn't figured out the solution to my issue. Lauren said it would take 48 hours _or _saltwater and I didn't have any access to saltwater at the moment. _Of all the girls who could've roomed with me why did I get the single most annoying one with a she-devil other half?!_

_**Because you're special! **_

_Well I sure don't feel special_

_**You look special! You're welcome by the way.**_

_It won't come out!_

_**It takes 48 hours or salt water! I've told you 78 times! Just come out here, you're going to make us both late for this meeting thing.**_

I grabbed my Organization XIII cloak and pulled the hood up before stepping out of the bathroom. Lauren had an iPod Touch sitting on the pillow next to her and was blasting out Don't Trust Me by 3oh!3. Where she got an iPod Touch I had no idea but I knew I was jealous.

"Are you trying to tell me something, considering the song title and all?" Lauren grinned and nodded

"You should know better than to go into the bathroom first when I don't put up a fight. I mean really, why the hell would I just _let_ you waltz into the bathroom without at least making the feat a bit more difficult?" I glared at her from underneath the gentle fabric of the black hood.

"Let's just get going" I said with a sigh.

"Wait! I need to see my masterpiece!" And without a moments hesitation Lauren slid across the room via her sock covered feet and pulled off my hood. She looked at me with a mixture of awe and amusement. "I'm amazing. Just go head and admit because I know it's true!" she exclaimed and I angrily tugged my hood up over my head.

"For someone so small you cause a lot of issues" I told her, ruffling her sleek blond hair. She frowned at me like a little kid who was just sentenced to time-out. I headed out the doorway without another word and I heard her stomp along behind me. We both headed into the control, room to see that everyone was there, including Ms. Murder. She saw me and grinned openly, causing my arms to erupt in goose bumps and I did my best to suppress a shiver. She just sighed and shook her head.

**You guys are going to leave me behind again! I'm so sad. You are all so mean.**

_What the hell are you talking about?_

**Atlantica. It's quite an interesting place. Not my kind of place though.**

_You don't even have opinions of things do you? You only like places where there are lots of things to kill. Demon_

Fury stiffened at my response and glared at me

**What did you just call me, Captain Seaweed?**

_Demon?_

**Why?**

_Because I freaking felt like it! Sheesh_

Black lightning crackled around Fury but as she shifted to sit up on the controls the lightning slowly died off. Lauren glanced at me nervously but quickly looked away when she saw me looking at her. _Whatever, those two are freaks. _Sora cleared his throat and stood up. I rolled my eyes; _yes you're very powerful and superior. _

"I-

"Have and announcement to make" Lauren finished. Tidus and Wakka grinned at Sora's obvious failure. Of course while I was distracted by her sudden outburst she decided to tug my hood off once again. I slid down lower into my chair and glared at everyone, knowing they would understand that laughing would bring them a slow and painful death.

"Oh my God…Riku your hair" Kairi gasped. _Yeah I know. Lauren killed my pride and joy. I'm probably going to wake up tomorrow as wimpy as Sora and shorter than Lauren, since she's in the process of taking away everything that matters to me._

**You're so overdramatic**

"Riku your hair is green!" Sora exclaimed, pointing at my seaweed green hair. Thus the nickname, Captain Seaweed. _For that comment Sora you shall be the first to die, followed by Tidus. Oh yes blondie, I can hear you laughing._

**I repeat: Overdramatic! But I will help you kill Tidus.**

_No. I'm going to kill him all by myself!_

**Even if I did you a favor?**

_Shaving my hair off doesn't count as a favor._

Fury responded by jamming the heel of her Goth boot into the auto-pilot button, which turned on the manual controls. The ship did a nosedive and everyone was thrown out of their chairs. We crash landed right into what I assumed was Atlantica.

_*Lauren*_

Something is seriously wrong here. Well a bunch of somethings:

Riku's hair is no longer green. _And I spent so much time on that! I took the care to put green dye into his shampoo and everything!_

We are in the ocean. _Which explains Riku's no longer green hair_

I'm not drowning. _Even the most amazing people can't breathe underwater, including me._

Last but not least- I'm a mermaid. _I hate Atlantica already._

**Not much to say. This chapter was 7 pages which is about my average length. Just a warning I'm going to Chicago next weekend so I won't be able to update! I hope this chapter was entertaining and made you laugh! I shall update in two weeks. Review please!**


	20. Pure

**The much awaited chapter is finally here! It's a very romantic chapter so those of you who love the fight scenes are going to have to clench your fists and suffer in silence (yes I'm quoting my own story, how lame) So this chapter is my longest one yet! Hooray! On the down side I have lost a reviewer :'( and I can't find them. Hopefully this new chapter will bring them back! Since you all enjoyed my little excerpt from ???'s POV I added another one. (By the way the first unknown person isn't the same as the one in this chapter. They are two different people) Enjoy the extra-long chapter!**

_*???*_

I walk into the bland room of this gummi ship and immediately notice the line of black sharpie clashing against the perfect white closet on one side of the room. I raise an eyebrow and glance at my partner briefly in amusement. She smirks and shrugs her shoulders.

"So she's got a freak for a roommate. Let's just hope he doesn't have a pet rat or anything."

"Shut up!" I groan; _does she ever stop talking?! All I hear the entire way here is blah blah blah blah blah boring shit!_ "If you're going to talk at least do it silently dumbass!" I tapped my temple just to be sure I got the message through. She glared at me before she started to shift through the contents of the closet.

_**You're so moody Nightshade! Nobody is here anyways so just let me talk. Ooohhh I like this!**_

I turned around to see her holding a pink tank top up to her, meaning for me to give a thumbs up or down. But I would do more than that

"Hell-freaking-no"

"I was just kidding you know. This shit makes my eyes burn! Where the hell did something pink come from anyways?! Do we have the right room?"

"She's just gotten softer Midnight, easier to kill, weaker, whatever you want to call it." She shrugged and tossed the tank top on top of one of the beds dismissively before pulling out other garments and deciding whether or not they were a guy or a girl's. If they were the latter she would toss them on to the bed behind her. She paused when she pulled out a black jacket that was clearly a guy's. She turned towards me slightly and I could see that her red eyes were wide.

"Smell this" she said, tossing it to me.

"Smell it?! What the hell…"

"Just do it ok?" I rolled my scarlet eyes and sniffed the shirt slightly, paused, and then buried my face in it. After about a minute I brought my head back up and Midnight tore it from my hands.

"Hey give that back!"

"It smells good doesn't it?!" she asked me, practically shrieking in excitement. I sighed

"You are the most airheaded D-

"Hey! Come on doesn't this seem familiar?! The smell I mean"

"I'm not a Heartless Midnight; I don't rely on my nose to identify people!"

"It smells familiar to you" apparently I didn't have a say in this "now who's scent could it be?" she paced slowly around the room, clutching the black jacket. I snapped my fingers

"It belongs to that guy who used to be Maleficent's bitch right?! That silvered-haired guy who was like possessed or something I don't know…"

"Yeah your right! His name was like…uh… oh right-Riku!" I nodded in agreement. I didn't really remember meeting him, but I must've at some point. I shook my head in aggravation.

"Lets just finish this" Midnight nodded and pointed to the black bag on my pale shoulder. I slid it off my arm and it landed on the ground with a dull thud. I pulled out a chunk of dry ice, bare-handed. The cool fog drifted down to the floor before vanishing.

"Why is it that we can pick up stuff like dry ice but humans can't?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because we aren't technically alive _or_ humans!" Midnight frowned at me as I sliced off a thin sliver of the dry ice, using a small knife.

"Moogles aren't the only ones who can create rare items" I said with a smile. I snapped my fingers and a small black flame appeared and hovered just over my hand. I put the small piece of dry ice into the black flame and there was a small flash of silver light. In my hand was now a sparkling black chain. The sparkling came from the small frozen crystals inside of it. The ice would never melt now.

"A frozen chain of everlasting flames"

"Yeah only two hundred more or so of those to make" _This could take a while…._

_*Riku*_

_Holy shit. I'm going to go insane. This just isn't fair, why Sora has decided to torture me like this I can't even begin to comprehend._

Ok so here's the situation- I was a mermaid, erm, mer_man _along with Sora, Tidus and Wakka. Meanwhile Selphie, Kairi and Lauren were all mermaids. And it was taking all my self-control to not stare at the girls because, well, they weren't wearing shirts to be blunt. Now just like every little kid I'd read fantasy stories with mermaids in them but I never actually thought mermaids were real! And seeing two of my closest friends, plus a certain blond really wasn't doing much to decrease my risk of a heart attack. Considering that I was only sixteen I was mature for my age but really, human guys aren't made to be prepared for this kind of stuff! I noticed that Tidus, Wakka, and Sora weren't faring much better than I was.

"A-are we...mermaids?" Kairi asked uncertainly

"Well you most definitely are. I can't say the same thing for myself though" I joked, since Sora seemed to have forgotten how to talk. _Way to plan ahead Sora. Atlantica wasn't an essential stop but __**no **__you wanted to be a merman again! Well how's that working out for you?!_

"I suppose I should show you guys how to swim and fight as merpeople" Sora said, finally discovering the wonder that was speech. I just hoped that for Sora's sake he wouldn't have to hold any of the girl's hands or something while he was teaching them. There was a chance that he would throw up from nervousness and stress.

_*Lauren*_

_I hate the water oh I hate the water because it's annoying and…hmm how to end that verse…._

I was currently making up a song about how much I despised water, especially swimming. It was probably because I usually had wings and I couldn't really fly underwater. It just made me feel incredibly limited. Although I had to admit that I had a natural talent for swimming. I just seemed to understand it. How to make the water work to my advantage. I was swimming circles around everyone! Seriously, I was swimming circles around Riku because it annoyed him. His hair drifted lazily around him as he eyed me in annoyance. Then with speed and precision that I completely didn't see coming he whipped out his hand and tugged me back into his chest by my tail.

"I'm going to cut your tail off if you swim one more full circle around me. Got it?" His voice whispered by my ear and I squirmed in his rock solid grasp.

"I'd knee you so hard you'd turn into a girl for that little comment but you're more of an _it_ already Mr. Merman or Ms. Merman whichever you prefer." Riku momentarily squeezed my arm with all of his strength before shoving me off of him and I went out a few feet, whirling my arms to keep myself upright, I didn't need water up my nose. Once I had my balance again I turned back at him and frowned. He was being a bit meaner than usual. I rubbed my arm vigorously and winced when I saw an angry red rash appear on the upper part of my arm. I met Riku's eyes and his gaze softened for a fraction of a second, into something that I could've sworn was sympathy…maybe even a trace of regret? No I must be crazy.

I swam over to Sora, adding in a flip just because I felt like showing off. He turned away from helping Kairi to give me a moment of attention.

"I'm ready to learn how to fight underwater!" I said and Sora nodded in agreement. He turned to Kairi

"Alright keep trying the turn alright? I'm gonna help Lauren." She smiled before going back to practicing with Selphie.

"Alright so its pretty much like regular fighting except the water slows down your movements so you really have to time things well and use a lot of upper body strength when your striking with the Keyblade" he began. I faked a yawn to show my boredom.

"When are we going to get to fight some real Heartless?!" I asked him, which he shrugged in response to.

"Do_ you_ see any Heartless to fight? Because I most certainly don't" Sora put his hands on where his hips would've been, which was now just part of his navy blue tail. _Awe he thinks he's being smart! How cute_

I gave a dismissive flick of my hand and five Sea Neons appeared. I punched the water with my fist.

"That's more like it!" I exclaimed before charging, erm_ swimming_ into battle.

_*Lauren*_

"Ok no more poofing up random Heartless when you feel like it!" Riku said, pointing at me accusingly and using his 'you're-in-big-trouble' voice.

"Whatever Riku you're just mad that I totally excel at underwater fighting while you fail" I said with a dull look of boredom in my eyes. Riku just shook his head and swam up to where Sora was. Sora said that we were going to go see King Triton, the ruler of the seas. I didn't really care. I was Lauren, Badass Lion and Incredible Underwater Fighter. Beat_ that_

_*Sora*_

So I leave for maybe three months and Ariel decides to get married _without_ inviting me! Well that's just not fair. Using a bit of the Sea King's magic he managed to turn us all into humans and we went on shore and headed up to Prince Eric's castle. Long story short- their wedding reception was that evening and in a moment of pure joy and excitement Ariel had declared that we should be Guests of Honor as well and her and her new husband. Therefore we got the royal treatment. Which meant having servants get us ready. Which meant I had to wear a tuxedo. Not fair

_*Lauren*_

**I'm going to kill this brunette if she doesn't stop freaking pulling at my face!**

_It's my face too!_

**Then you can be charged for murder!**

So a servant sounded nice. A little private assistant to help me get ready since fashion wasn't my strong point. Ten servants…now that was just obsessive. I figured some people would just be hanging out in the outskirts of the room but somehow everyone had managed to find something to do. A young brunette who I had liked until about five seconds ago was plucking my eyebrows and I was ready to strangle her. I closed my eyes and tried to find my happy place…except I didn't have a happy place. Instead and thought about how much fun Kairi and Selphie must be having, getting ready for something ten times better than any prom could ever hope to be. I thought about Sora panicking in case Kairi expected him to dance with her. How Tidus and Wakka were probably going to make total asses of themselves. How Riku was probably groaning about having to wear a tux. I really couldn't imagine that guy in a tux.

Eventually I was clean, and dressed, and my hair had been styled. I stood up and looked in the mirror. I was wearing a deep blue dress that matched my eyes and went to about the middle of my thighs. The fabric was silky and the dress fitted well, making my body look hour-glassish. My hair was shining and had been straightened in a way that it looked like a pure gold was spilling down around my face. My lips shined and tasted sort of like sugar, courtesy of some random lip gloss. I had mascara on and the dark eyeliner around my eyes made them seem electric and sharp. My nails just had a clear coat on them. I smiled and stood up; despite all of the pain and discomfort I actually could consider myself pretty, for once. Then, of course, my special moment was ruined. That brunette I hated some much brought out a pair of high heels. The heels matched the dress perfectly, but I had never worn heels before. Despite my superior balance and grace my feet required ground if I was going to demonstrate these characteristics. These three-inch deadly heels weren't helping. I thanked all my personal assistants as they filed out of the room before sliding the heels on. They fit well but I could tell blisters were not far off. I carefully stood up and was fine, until my weight shifted just slightly. Then my body was teetering back and forth like I was on a tightrope. I took and few shaky steps before falling forward, desperately grabbing my chair for support. _Well this will be interesting._

_*Sora*_

Once I was finally ready to go I decided to see how my best friend was faring with being the center of his own little universe. It had made me uncomfortable. My ten stylists left the room and I thanked them all with my best fake smile. They seemed to fall for it. I crossed the hallway and was nearly knocked over by Riku's personal helpers leaving his room. None of them looked fatally injured which was a good sign, but I heard a few of them muttering about' terrible manners' and 'no enthusiasm'. These things really didn't surprise me though.

I headed into Riku's room once the others had left and saw him out on the balcony. _Not fair! I didn't get a balcony! _I went on out and came up beside him. The wind teased his hair and I could feel mine begin to move around too, creating its own style. I quickly tried to shield my hair from the wind and made a mental note to check my reflection in the mirror before Riku and I headed out.

"Oh you have your thinking face on! Who are you thinking about?" I asked slyly, once I got a look at Riku's face. His face was expressionless for the most part but every once in a while he would silently say something or his eyes would travel to some random point. That was Riku's thinking face.

"Lauren"

"I am too actually. She's…not like most people."

"Not at all. I'm just trying to figure her out. I mean, sometimes she acts all innocent and like a little kid, like you, and then sometimes she's just downright mean and acts like she hates the world."

"I am not a little kid! I don't act like one either."

"My assistants gave me candy"

"That's not fair! I want candy t- _He just proved himself right didn't he?_

"My point exactly Sora."

"Well I already know the answer to your question, unless I'm to kid-like and naïve to have possibly found an answer" I said before crossing my arms over my chest in fake anger.

"Yeah you probably are" Riku said, looking back out into the distance.

"Hey!" I shouted, punching him lightly in the jaw. He smirked and looked at me, giving me a 'what-do-you-have' look.

"Well Lauren said her Dark Being was a parallel of her heart so if Fury is the most powerful Dark Being wouldn't that mean that Lauren's heart is almost entirely made up of light? Fury and Lauren are probably complete opposites which is why Lauren acts like two entirely different people. Sometimes she's Lauren and sometimes she's Fury." Riku raised an eyebrow

"Not bad for a little kid. Come on let's go down to the ball room. I'm sure Kairi's waiting to dance with you" he said with a grin, elbowing me in the side. Then he headed out of the room without waiting. I would follow him. _But first I want to find out where that candy is!_

_*Riku*_

I walked down the hall towards the ballroom, which was where this reception was being held. Through the large windows that lined the hallway I could see that the sun was just starting to set, sending pink and orange streaks across the sky, which reflected back on the ocean. It reminded me of home. I finally made it to a set of mahogany double-doors with the sound of an orchestra coming from behind it. I reached out and grabbed the golden handle before pushing. The door opened easily and I was greeted with the sight of a massive room, filled with women in dresses of all colors and men wearing tuxedoes in a surprisingly large array of colors too. And here I thought only black tuxedoes existed.

It looked like all the other guys from our group had appeared while the girls still had yet to show. Well actually, Kairi and Selphie still had yet to show. Lauren was leaning up against one of the walls near a table filled with refreshments and a gigantic variety of foods. Her right foot, sporting a blue high heel with a deadly tip, was poking the cream colored wall and her head was looking down towards the ground, an invisible shadow seemed to cover her. That may have been why nobody would approach her, except me.

"You know your mood doesn't really fit your appearance" I told her, finally reaching her. This room was ridiculously big. In response, the color of midnight seeped into her blond hair, turning it into the blackest of blacks.

"Does it fit now?" She asked me, her eyes momentarily turning scarlet and burning into mine. I nodded my head and she sighed, before her hair and her eyes returned to their normal color. _Oh my god. She looks…beautiful. Wait what?! Oh no do I like her?! Well no point in it, she's just going to disappear here in a month or so. She looks amazing…_

"What are you staring at?" she asked, one eyebrow rose in questioning.

"Uh…food" I exclaimed, trying to cover up my brain's sluggishness. She just sighed and shook her head. I blushed and quickly headed over to one of the tables that were completely covered in food.

"Do you want anything?" I asked, piling food onto my plate.

"I can't"

"And why not?"

"I can't walk in these shoes. If I take one step I will fall flat on my face" The old rivalry between us spoke for me before I could even tell what I was saying.

"Well then by all means take a step. It would make my day to see you end up kissing the ground." I immediately wanted to take the words back. She glared at me and I saw her press her palms flat against the wall she was leaning on. A large black oval appeared on the wall and swallowed her. I followed her without hesitation.

**You really aren't supposed to do that unless you already know where you're going.**

The blackness began to fade and a beach came into view. I looked around and noticed that the castle was still in sight. We were on the beach that we had washed up on when King Triton had turned us into humans. Lauren ad taken off her shoes and was just standing in the water.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, heading over to where she was standing. She looked up at me and grinned, that innocent, light-filled appearance taking over. She pointed down towards her feet and I saw that with each wave that submerged her feet the farther she sank into the soft sand.

"Where's Fury?" I asked casually, pretending to look around for her.

"She went back to the ship, beaches and wedding receptions are two of her least favorite things I guess." _So that explains your sudden adorableness._ _Oh I got it bad. How do I know? I just said __**adorableness**__._ I took off my shoes and socks and stood in the sand next to her and felt my feet slowly sink into the sand. Lauren yawned after a minute and I tried to find something to talk about.

"The sunset here reminds me of the one back on Destiny Islands. Don't you think so?" She smiled and nodded

"Yeah it looks so nice….hey why did we come here? There aren't any Heartless." I smirked

"Isn't it obvious? Sora wanted to see Kairi as a mermaid." We shared a laugh and I was glad that she could appreciate humor from a guy's point of view. Without moving my feet I gently leaned closer to her and she eyed me for a minute. I blinked back with the definition of innocence. She took a few steps back and opened another portal that was even with me.

"Are you going to shove me through there or something in an attempt to get rid of me?" I asked a hint of challenge in my voice.

"Eh, I just can't stand this dress. The portal leads back to the room I had changed in so I'm just going to go back there and change real quickly" Without waiting for a response she stepped through the portal and it closed behind her. _And she's gone. She better not just ditch me on this beach._

Maybe twenty feet back from where I was standing a large rock wall rose up and I headed over and leaned against it before slowly sinking down into a sitting position. I frowned as I noticed how hot I was in this stupid tuxedo and took the black jacket off. This still left me with a long-sleeved white shirt and a tie, along with long dark pants.

When Lauren came back her make-up was gone except for the clear gloss and she was in a simple t-shirt and shorts. Unfortunately I still thought she was beautiful, which made it official; I liked the girl who wouldn't flinch at seeing my dead body. She would probably laugh. She came over to where I was, spun on her heel, and plopped down beside me, bringing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"Hey what about me?! I'm burning up here! Bring back that portal so I can change too!" I exclaimed. I wasn't sure if it was the heat or the girl, or both, but I was really starting to sweat.

"I got this stuff from my room in Eric's castle, you know, the one they had tortured me in?" I glared at her.

"Alright alright! No breaks for Key bearer number two huh?" she stood up and summoned yet another portal before stepping halfway into it. She came back out with the blue dress she had just been wearing. She tossed it at me and I let it fall over my head. I heard her laughter and smiled under the smooth fabric of the dress. _Mission accomplished_

"Ok fine, go ahead" Lauren said, gesturing towards the dark oval that seemed to have been randomly placed on the beach.I assumed she had re-directed it, which was a way of changing the exit point of a portal without having to close it and summon another one. I smiled before getting up and heading through the portal.

On the other side was our room in the gummi ship and I frowned when I realized how uncomfortable it was going to be sleeping in the same room with a girl I wanted to go out with. I changed into a pair of shorts and grabbed my black jacket. I slipped it on and after a moment of consideration decided to leave it unzipped. I took a step towards the portal before realizing what Lauren would say when she saw me; _Wow Riku no need to show off. Believe it or not, not everyone wants to see you shirtless. _Then she would walk off smiling to herself. I sighed and my shoulders sagged. I zipped up my jacket and grabbed my yellow one, sliding that one on too._ Then_ I stepped through the portal.

A heat wave hit me in the face and I was glad that I had chosen shorts instead of my usual pair of baggy jeans. Lauren was leaning against the rock face and was staring calmly out towards the ocean. I took a deep breath and headed over to her. _Now or never I suppose…but I don't want to die. _My step faltered for a fraction of a second but then I was walking normally, putting an expression of fake confidence on my face.

As I approached Lauren her blue eyes darted towards me and for a moment our eyes locked. Then she smiled just faintly and looked away. I stopped; just like that she had destroyed me. She couldn't read minds without Fury but she still had that sixth sense that all girls possess. _She knows that I like her._

She raised an eyebrow at my motionless body and tilted her head to the side, blond hair flowing towards the ground.

"Well by all means continue buddy. I want to see how this turns out." Just then her smile was probably friendly but to me it looked like the smile an assassin would have before finishing off their assigned target. I gulped and slowly walked up to her, my eyes never breaking contact with hers. Once I finally reached her she smiled up at me pleasantly and I felt slightly more comfortable. I put my hand against the rock and gently leaned in a bit closer to her. She eyed my hand and her smile grew.

"So we are going to reenact this scene then huh?" she asked me calmly, her eyes widening with curiosity. I flinched, _how can she have this kind of effect on me?! _I shrugged and forced my facial expression to remain calm and collected. I gently put my hand against her cheek, feeling her cheek get hotter. I did my best not grin like a little kid in the face of a feat like this. I made her blush! _Riku: 1, Lauren: too many to count. _I was on a roll.

I took a deep breath, as silently as I possibly could before leaning in towards Lauren's face. For a moment blind hope told me this time it would work. Then my forehead hit the wall of the cliff.

"Well at least you didn't end up kissing the rock." Lauren said with a small laugh. I looked down to see her crouched down, pressed between the rock wall and me. Defeat crashed down on my shoulders and I frowned at her. It seemed only fair though that I could get everything in the world, as long as I couldn't get what I wanted most.

"What are u moping about? Emo teenager" Then she jumped up and pressed her lips against mine.

_*Lauren*_

_Its…different, but in a good way I suppose. Definitely not something I've had experience with. _My lips were gently pressed against Riku's and I had no regrets. Hot guy…nice personality…he actually seems to understand me. So what the hell, I'll go ahead and kiss him. Since it was my first kiss I was incredibly nervous that when I pulled back Riku was going to laugh in my face. Luckily though that possibility was ruled out when Riku tilted his head to the side and pressed his lips against mine a little more firmly. He gently wrapped his arms around my waist and I felt my entire body seem to catch on fire. Nobody ever mentioned that this feeling would be so intense. One of his hands traveled up my back and stopped between my shoulder blades. I felt like a bit of an idiot just standing there kissing him with my arms hanging limply at my sides so I wrapped arms around his neck, appreciating the feel of his hair against the backs of my hands. Riku hugged me closer to him and somehow the feeling that I had seemed to double, sending some sort of liquid fire through my veins. It reminded me faintly of adrenaline in the way every part of my body seemed alert. Riku's lips were soft and somehow comforting against mine. In that moment I felt like nothing was holding to the ground except for the firm hold he had on me. The moment stretched out and it seemed like time had halted so we would just have to stay like this forever. This invisible passion that churned between the two of us seemed to hold the answers to everything because for once my head wasn't buzzing with a thousand questions. One word echoed in my mind and that was _Riku. _The feeling I had that seemed to reach every part of me grew in my chest until I felt like I would explode. It was a burning sensation and I didn't realize what it was for several seconds. My need for oxygen had just about reached its limit. I was about to lean back so I could breathe when I realized the grip had on me. I gently tapped the back of his neck with my finger and, after a moment's hesitation; he pulled back and inhaled deeply. I copied his movements and tried not to be depressed when the incredible feelings my body had possessed left me.

He pulled me back into his body but instead of another kiss as I had expected he just pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck again and somehow managed to get even closer to him. Everything had changed and I needed some support. I had never cared about another guy in a romantic way. I had had crushes like everyone but this felt like a bigger deal than some innocent school fling where you date for two weeks, get bored, and break up. Now I had someone else in my life whose life was just as important to me as my own. For the first time I wasn't completely independent. I needed someone and that someone had presented them self to me. _I'm glad it was you, Riku._ I turned my head into his neck and whispered into his ear

"Did you see that coming?" He put his lips by my ear and whispered back

"I had no idea."

"In that case- surprise!"

"I have a question for you."

"And what may that be?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?" At this point he pulled away from me and looked me straight in the eyes. I gave a small laugh and nodded. This wasn't satisfying enough though apparently

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing its just that isn't the traditional question 'Will you go out with me?'" Riku shifted from one foot to the other

"Alrighty then. Will you go out with me in a month or two, assuming we both make it back to Destiny Islands alive?" I laughed

"Ok I see your point. I would love to be your girlfriend and if we both survive I'll go out with you." Riku grinned before rewarding me with his comforting embrace. I wrapped my arms around him once again and twisted a piece of his silver hair around my fingers.

"What are you doing?' he asked, his voice reaching normal volume.

"I'm playing with your hair."

"Why"

"Because its fun and I feel like it! What am I on trial or something?!" Riku laughed and shook his head before reaching his hand behind him and grabbing mine. I stubbornly held onto his silver hair for a moment before letting go. Riku dropped his hand to his side, forcing mine follow.

"This is a lot calmer than I expected it to be" Riku said quietly, which raised the question: What were you expecting?

"Except my feet are killing me" I said, switching from leaning on my left foot to my right.

"Ok then. We'll sit down" Riku said, drawing his hand back from its spot around my waist. My first response was to hug him even closer to me; I just didn't want to let him go. Instead I leaned against the side of the cliff before slowly lowering myself to the ground. Riku sat down beside me in a less graceful manor (he just sort of fell backwards) and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer until our legs were touching. Feeling completely at ease with my used-to-be-rival-now-boyfriend I put my head on his shoulder and yawned.

"Are you tired?" Riku asked me, amusement in his voice. I was just about to shake my head and tell him that I was just relaxed when I felt that eruption feeling again. The same one I had had back in Radiant Garden.

I leapt to my feet and sprinted towards the water. Just as my feet reached the ocean I felt wings spring out of my back, tearing two large holes in the back of my shirt. I jumped into the air and spread out my wings, letting the wind catch under them and pull me upwards. I frantically flapped my wings, determined to get as much distance as I could between me and the beach. Finally when I felt I couldn't hold it in any longer I held up my palms and started to scream.

_*Riku*_

I quickly jumped to my feet as a white light began to erupt from Lauren's frame. I was almost immediately thrown back though as a shock wave slammed into the beach. I went flying back against the cliff side and let out a small shout of surprise. I quickly got back up and then I saw Lauren fall into the ocean with a soundless splash. _Then_ I started to sprint.

As I ran to towards the ocean I ripped off both of my jackets and tugged off my shoes, knowing that they would only slow me down. I ran into the ocean as the salty water splashed up behind me. Once I was about knee-length into the water I tensed my muscles as I prepared to dive under. Then someone or something pulled my feet out from under me. My entire body was submerged in the salty water and just as I pulled my head back up I was hit in the face with a wave which sent me back under. When I finally emerged from the ocean's grip I was coughing and sputtering, but still alert for the thing that had grabbed my legs.

"Hi there" A face suddenly popped out of the ocean right in front me.

"Gah!" I gasped and fell back, but a hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back up before I could get another mouthful of salt.

"Why do you enjoy scaring me?" I asked her, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because its fun" Lauren said with a small laugh before playfully splashing me.

"Come on let's get out of the water." I told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. Except she refused to cooperate and I ended up dropping her instead.

"I'm a mermaid again! I can't go back on shore!" Lauren explained.

"Really?" Lauren leaned back on her arms and lifted a black and red tail out the water in response. "Ah so you are. Well now what are we going to do with you?" I asked with a smile. Lauren patted the water, meaning for me to sit down. I sighed; my pants were already soaked, and sat back down in the ocean. Lauren rolled over so her head was resting on her hands and smiled.

"You have pretty eyes" _Just out of the blue you compliment me like that? Wow way to throw off my concentration. _My eyes widened in a surprise and another wave shoved me backwards.

"My eyes are _pretty_?"

"Yes they are very pretty. I'm jealous" _Coming from the most beautiful girl/mermaid I've ever met._ And then, entirely on impulse, I leaned in and kissed her again. It wasn't the same as the first time I kissed her, considering I couldn't wrap my arms around her waist since she didn't have a wais, she had a tail instead. And she couldn't wrap her arms around my neck because she would fall face first into the ocean if she did. It was still nice though.

"Awh that's so romantic!" A voice squealed from behind us.

"Alright Riku!"

"See I told you?! And I was only a few days off!" I pulled my lips away from hers and a frowned.

"God dammit" I whispered.

"Well the privacy was nice while it lasted." Lauren said with a shrug. I turned around to see all of our friends staring at us, without any regard for personal privacy.

"Can we help you?" I asked, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

"So you guys are finally going out?!" Kairi shrieked.

"What do you mean 'finally'? Was this expected or something?!" I exclaimed. Behind me I could hear Lauren laugh quietly at my answer. Kairi and Selphie started screaming and jumping up and down while Sora came over and gave me a high five. _Ok then everybody, feel free to take that as a' yes we are going out'._

"Ok if nobody can congratulate me as humans do you guys mind just jumping into the water or something?" Lauren asked sounding a bit pissed off. I ran a few steps in the water before jumping up, bringing my legs into my body, and landing in the water with a splash. When I resurfaced I had a tail…and no shirt. Then on cue everyone charged into the water with loud splashes and everyone was a mermaid/ merman once again.

"Hey Pretty Boy, you never danced with me!" Lauren said coming up from behind me and shoving my head down towards the ocean floor. "Hey look I'm finally taller than you" I grinned and kicked my tail, sending me up past her.

"Look, now things are normal again. I'm the taller one and you're waaaay down there." I said with a smirk before grabbing her hand and spinning her around. Since it was nighttime out and the water was dark as well no one could see me and Lauren dancing underwater. Which was good because I sucked at it.

**Awww how sweet. So Lauren and Riku are finally going out! They're relationship is going to be in this story AND the sequel a lot so that's why this chapter was so important. I had a surprisingly good time writing this chapter. Now that there's a couple I will probably have to do more romantic chapters. For those of you who live for the battles I hope this chapter wasn't too horribly terrible. Maybe I'll add a fight into the next chapter. Any people in particular who you would like to see fight? Review please and I'll update next week!**


	21. Freezing

**Introducing-Chapter 21! *applause* Sorry this one was a little later than expected-my extended family came into town so I didn't get much time to type. This chapter is longer than average so enjoy everyone! Now that the story is getting a bit more complicated and has some new characters (some more mysterious than others) don't hesitate to ask me about anything your confused about! Enjoy the chapter!**

_*Selphie*_

Later that night, once we had all had our fun in the ocean and said good bye to Prince Eric and Princess Ariel, I found myself back on the gummi ship along with everyone else. Almost immediately people began heading towards their rooms, yawning and stretching their arms out. Sora headed over to the control panel and began to rapidly work at one of the screens. My curiosity defeated my exhaustion and I headed over to where he was standing.

"So what are you working on, Captain?" I joked lightly

"I'm just putting in the coordinates for our next destination." I waited expectantly but he gave no further information so I decided to press him more.

"And where might our next destination be?" I asked him, trying to lean over his shoulder to see but my height got the best of my and all I received was a face full of spiky brunette hair.

"Beast's Castle. Its not the prettiest world but the last time I was there Xaldin was too so if the Heartless are acting up it may be a good idea to check there, since the Organization obviously took an interest in that world." Once again I waited expectantly for Sora to explain further but once again I was disappointed.

"So who's Xaldin?" Sora entered in a few more key codes before explaining

"Xaldin was a member of Organization XIII who tried to turn Beast into a Heartless so they could control his Nobody" I was too tired to ask who Beast was.

_*Lauren*_

"I swear you and your friends are such gossipers! Kairi and Selphie especially! We have been dating for all of an hour and they are already spreading rumors about us!" I exclaimed as Riku and I entered our room. It was ironic how much I had despised sharing this room with Riku and now I found myself feeling thankful that we could.

"Yeah…sure…gossips…whatever" Riku mumbled before collapsing on top of my bed.

"Riku that's my bed. No you can't take it, not even just for tonight" I told him before heading over to our closet and pulling out a pair of shorts and a tank top. Riku groaned before rolling off my bed and crawling over to his, feebly dragging himself into it.

"Wow that's pretty pathetic" Fury observed, appearing out of nowhere. I shot Riku a panicked look but he was too tired to notice.

"So did I miss anything exciting? Fury asked without emotion

"I blew up again" I told her, knowing she would understand what I was talking about.

"Well it's about that time" Fury said with a shrug. I reached out and grabbed her hand, dreading what new knowledge she would discover there. Pain burst through me, sharp and clear. I grabbed my nose as blood spurted out of it. I knew that a Nobody could wreak havoc on their Other from inside their bodies but I didn't know that Dark Beings could do it too. Fury shot back out of my body and brought her fist down on the thing nearest her, which was Riku's back.

"Ow! What is your problem?!" Riku exclaimed, shooting up from his relaxed position in his bed.

"You're dating Silver Haired Bastard?!" Fury shrieked at me, black lightning crackling around her.

"_No_ I'm dating _Riku_."

"That's what I said; Silver Haired Bastard" Fury said calmly, completely ignoring my previous sentence.

"Wait does this mean that I'm dating Fury too?!" Riku asked, his eyes widened and he grabbed fistfuls of his silver hair with both hands.

"Look Silver Haired Bastard, if I were dating you, you would be _dead_" Fury said, being sure to explain the situation slowly so Riku would completely understand.

"Ok that's a relief" Riku said. The guy was just totally out of it. I sighed before heading into the bathroom so I could change and get ready. A minute later Riku came in, _without knocking_. I glared at him momentarily in annoyance. Luckily I hadn't been changing. He yawned loudly before proceeding to brush his teeth.

"Fury stormed off" he said, his mouthful of blue toothpaste

"Good, she needs to calm down" I said, wiping my lip gloss off on the nearest towel. I could've sworn I heard Riku sigh sadly as I did so.

"Alright clear out so I can change" I told Riku, shoving him gently towards the door.

"Huh-uh!" Riku said and rapidly shook his head. He spit his toothpaste into the sink before continuing

"I'm not done! Why don't you change out in our room? I promise I will knock before I come out. He said before shoving_ me_ towards the door.

I left the bathroom, grabbing my designated sleep-apparel. I went back out into our Fury-free room and quickly changed. Riku did knock before heading out of the bathroom but he left the bathroom before I could respond. He glanced at me and headed towards his bed but stopped when he saw my glare.

"What" He asked, sounding mildly annoyed.

"The point of knocking is to get a response! Just cause you knocked doesn't mean I was magically done changing! You have to_ wait_ for a person to let you come in if you knock! You don't just barge in!" I exclaimed, using rapid hand motions to allow my speech to reach maximum effect. Riku just sighed and shook his head.

"There are too many rules! How's a guy supposed to remember all of this?!" I just groaned and stomped over to my bed. Shivering slightly, I pulled back my sheets and collapsed in to my bed before dramatically heaving the sheets over my head. I heard Riku sigh and the click of one of our lamps turning off. I peeked out from under my sheets to see Riku gazing at me, his hand lingering on the switch to my lamp. He bent down so we were seeing eye to eye and gave me a small smile. I smiled back and pulled the rest of my head out from under the comforter.

"I hope you aren't going to make habit of being this moody" Riku said, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at me. I laughed

"Just knock and wait for a response _before _barging in on me" I said, yawning.

"Will do. Good night Blondie" Riku told me quietly before kissing me softly. His lips lingered on mine for a moment and then he was gone. He flicked his light off and slid under his sheets in one fluid motion; wrapping his arms around his pillow and letting his hair hide his face from view. Shivering, I curled up into and ball and tugged the sheets closer to me, but I just seemed to get colder. I cocooned myself up under my sheets once my teeth started chattering. Riku opened one eye halfway and flicked his lamp on.

"What's that sound?" Riku asked sleepily.

"W-what sound?" I stuttered out, shaking violently.

"Oh its you. Are you cold or something?" He asked me, raising one eyebrow

"I'm f-freezing" After a moment of exaggerated thinking Riku scooted back so he was only taking up half of his bed and lifted up the sheets. I tilted my head to side and blinked back at him. He sighed and beckoned me over with his hand.

"What?! N-no way Riku! I-I'm fine, really!" No way was I going to share a bed with Riku, not even if it meant I would freeze to death alone. Riku gave me a 'don't-be-such-a-baby' look and well, that was that. I couldn't have him thinking I was some loser who was afraid of big bad male teenagers. I got up and snatched a big fuzzy blanket out of our closet, wrapped myself up in it until the only parts of me you could see were my head and my toes, and slid into Riku's bed…_with him in it_. My heart beat insanely fast and I expected sweat to break out on my forehead; this was not something I had experience with. If you wanted me to destroy one million Heartless well, I could do that. One thing I didn't do was hormones and relationships. Up until now that is.

To my surprise though I only seemed to get colder, my body shivering and my teeth chattering.

"Wow you really are cold" Riku said, squeezing my hand for a moment. He reached over me to turn off his lamp and I shrunk down under the sheets, trying to become invisible.

"Wellgoodnight" I said quickly before rolling over so I was facing my now empty bed and squeezing my eyes shut, waiting for the nightmare to end.

"Night" Riku whispered softly, wrapping his arms around my blanket-covered waist and pulling me closer to him. I gasped before clamping my mouth shut. Riku chuckled before whispering into my ear

"The whole point of this was to make you warmer" he reminded me

"Exactly, not give me a heart attack! Now let me go" I snapped at him.

"Don't count on it" he said before putting his head u[ above mine so the top of my head was resting just under his chin and becoming completely still. I waited until his breathing became calm and regular before daring to shut my eyes. Then, amidst my shivering and teeth chattering, I managed to fall asleep.

_*Riku*_

I woke up slowly the next morning, waking up and then falling asleep for maybe another fifteen minutes or so before waking up again. I had to admit I liked waking up this way. After barely sleeping for over a year my body seemed to be determined to regain as much sleep as it possibly could. Which was fine with me of course. I was just about to fall back into another little cat nap when I heard Lauren yawn quietly and her muscles tense under the thick blue blanket as she stretched. I ran my hand through her hair and I managed to look far enough over her shoulder to see her smile.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her softly, putting my hand on her shoulder. She groaned and shrunk back under her blankets.

"Cold" she said, trying to suppress a shiver. She failed at it though

"Hmmm" I tried to think of what could be making her so cold. It wasn't the room temperature since she was buried under ten pounds of blankets…maybe she was sick? "Do you think a nice warm shower would help warm you up?"

"For now I'm going to stay here. You can take a shower first" _Detective Riku has solved his case._

"Ok what did you do to my shampoo this time? Or did you mess with the water so I'll get blasted with mud this time?" I asked feeling slightly annoyed. _Didn't dating her give me a free pass through all the pranks? Well apparently not._

"No it's just that I'm cozy and don't want to get up! I may not be warm but I am comfortable." Lauren said, sighing at my lack of trust in her. I mentally punched myself in the face. _Stupid stupid stupid!_

"Alright in that case I'm going to go take a shower. Do you want me to wake you up when I'm done?" This strange lack of yelling and violence was odd but it was also sort of nice. Being tied to a bed post, frozen in time due to some weird Keyblade magic with a blindfold pulled over my eyes for ten hours was not one of my finest moments.

"No its fine, I'll just take a shower when I wake up" Lauren said before rolling over to take up the entire bed. I went over to our closet and pulled out my clothes for the day. I frowned as I pulled a red hair off my black jacket.

"Has Fury been messing with my stuff?" I asked Lauren, turning around and holding up the jacket and the red hair. Lauren shook her head

"Not that I know of…there may be itching powder in your jacket but if there is I had no part in it. I was going to do that to you…then we started going out." She smiled sheepishly

"Awesome" I said with a sigh before heading into our bathroom.

_*Roxas*_

I grunted as I brought my blade down on another virtual Heartless. Sora had finally moved up the training level so children above the age of three could enjoy the training.

"Hey Roxas" Speak of the Other…

I turned around to see Sora standing just outside the room grinning, of course, wasn't he always grinning?

"What's up?" I called before destroying five virtual Heartless that had thought they could handle me. _They were sadly mistaken. _

"I was just heading over to get some training in but now I have another idea!" Sora said into the microphone which repeated said sentence into the giant glass box I was fighting in. _Well this should be good._ Sora continued

"Why don't you and I have a fight? You can try redeeming yourself!" _Oh it's on my brunette haired Other! _ I exited the giant glass box, slashing a few Heartless with a little effort as I could to intimidate Sora, and headed over to a large flat space with Sora. We both went into the center of the space before splitting off in opposite directions until we were both maybe twenty feet away or so.

"And…fight!" a voice cheered from the side. We both turned in unison to see Lauren sitting on the ground, covered in a thick blue blanket.

"Are you a little cold?" I asked her sarcastically

"Just a little" She replied with a roll of her eyes. She gave a small shiver and I wasn't sure if it was real or just an act.

"Alright are you ready?" Sora asked me, summoning up The Ultima Weapon.

"Copier" I heard Lauren mutter, summoning up her Ultima Weapon too. She looked up at me and twitched her hand ever so slightly to the right_. I can't believe she remembers that! _Before I met Sora, Lauren and I were good friends and made up little signals to help each other cheat in competitive fights which were mainly against Axel. And I knew what that little motion meant.

I lunged forward and bent my body down towards the ground, feeling Sora's blade glide just over me. I spun around quickly and summoned up the Oblivion, hitting Sora in the middle of his back with it. He gave out a cry of surprise before falling to the ground. He curled up his body and somersaulted before jumping back to his feet, turning back towards me, and lunging. I blocked his blade with the Oathkeeper and swung the Oblivion underneath our two colliding blades, hoping to hit him in the stomach, but he used the Keyblade as a prop and flipped over me. I spun around just in time to get hit in the side of the head with the Ultima Weapon, which did not feel very good at all let me tell you. I blocked his blade and forced it down towards the ground as he swung at me again and spun on one foot, kicking him in the side with the other. Sora went stumbling backwards but just as he fell he threw his Keyblade right at my face and I ducked down, watching the blade fly over my head. I straightened up and heaved the Oblivion at Sora which he jumped out of the way of and charged at me, the Ultima Weapon re-forming in his hand. I let the Oathkeeper fade and put both my hands on the Oblivion. The space between us disappeared. Fifteen feet…ten feet…five feet

"_Attention everyone dinner is ready for anyone who gives a damn about eating and surviving…no I didn't make it so there is no need to be worried about your health after eating. Kairi and Namine made it" _Riku's voice sounded over the intercom and Sora and I both froze in our tracks. Both of us lowered our blades and shook hands. It was dinnertime which meant this fight was over, winner or no winner. Lauren groaned and we both turned to her.

"Its dinnertime" we both said in unison. Lauren rolled her eyes

"Amateurs" she muttered before leaving the training room. Sora and I both grinned before racing down to the kitchen.

_*Riku*_

I smirked as Lauren slid into a chair next to me and started shoving steaming hot lasagna into her mouth. It was gross but in a cute way. I sighed and slapped myself in the face. _Am I condemned to thinking like this forever now?! _I really hoped not. It would get very annoying very fast.

"Wow Lauren slow down" Kairi said with a small smile as she sat down with a plate of lasagna. She cut a small piece of the lasagna and blew on it before putting it into her mouth and dabbing the corners of her mouth with a napkin. _If I had to eat that slowly I would go insane! _Lauren took in a breath to speak but I decided that I would talk for her so she could keep eating. _Aren't I so polite?_

"Lauren's been cold all day so she's hoping the warm food will help" I explained to everyone

"That's weird. I'm sorry but I've never heard of you getting sick. I thought it was like impossible" Roxas said to Lauren, getting a few weird looks from the other members of the table.

"It is. Dark Beings don't get sick, so I can't either since Fury and I are two halves of a whole." Lauren said. She got some confused looks and sighed. "For example; Kairi, if you got sick Namine would get sick too by default because you two are both technically the same person. So since its impossible for Fury to get sick its also impossible for me to get sick." Lauren explained. The confused people nodded and people like me, who had more than half a brain and were never confused, just kept on eating.

"Hmmm well that's strange. You haven't been sweating at all?" Sora asked Lauren. Lauren shook her head

"I've been shivering all day! Even last night when Riku- She cut herself off and blushed. Kairi and Selphie in particular leaned in a bit, eager for her to go on.

"Riku even found me this fuzzy blanket to sleep with, but I was still cold all night" Lauren covered up the truth swiftly and easily. I was grateful too, I wasn't going to pretend that sharing a bed with my new girlfriend didn't give me an adrenaline rush and make me nervous. It was definitely not something I wanted everyone here at this table to know about either.

"Ok I'm done bye everyone! I'm going back to my room." Lauren said quickly before tossing her paper plate into the trash can and running back down the hallway towards our room.

"Why don't we stop in Radiant Garden on the way to beast's Castle so Aerith can check out Lauren's strange sickness" Sora offered, considering me the boss of Lauren for whatever reason.

"Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt, and the last thing we need is for Key bearer number two to freeze to death in the middle of the night" I said, trying not to sound like I was too attached to Lauren yet. Even though my body was screaming for me to sprint after the blond girl who had just vanished down the hallway.

"Alright." Sora said, throwing away his plate and heading for the control room. "Radiant Garden it is"

_*Lauren*_

"You can't be serious" I said to the healer in front of me, just to tell her that I had no intention of doing what she was requesting of me.

"Tank top and shorts Lauren. It's the only way I can perform a good healing session and figure out what your body is doing to you" Aerith said patiently

"I'm sure Riku would be happy to help out if you put up too much of a fight" Cloud said tauntingly. I glared at him; apparently Selphie had told everyone that Riku and I were going out the moment we landed. Now everyone knew. And Cloud, having adopted the position of 'annoying older brother' in my life, had refused to stop embarrassing me with little comments such as that one.

"Oh shut up Cloud, just because you don't have the guts to ask out Tifa" I shot back at him. Aerith giggled and quickly stopped when Cloud looked over at her.

"I'm sorry" she said to Cloud before turning back to me and pointing to the bathroom. "Go get changed"

"Or I will send Riku after you" Guess who that was.

_*Sora*_

"Hey Sora!" A girl's voice shouted from behind me

"Yuffie I'm busy! I'll fight you la- you're not Yuffie" _Why do I always have to embarrass myself in front of her?! _

"Do I look like Yuffie?" Kairi said, laughing softly

"No! It's just that you were like 'Hey Sora" and I started talking but I wasn't turned around and Yuffie's been following me around all day asking…you know what never mind" I concluded

"Oh Sora your so funny" Kairi said, smiling happily. We both started walking down the street without even thinking about it. We rounded the corner and ended up right in front of my favorite restaurant in all of Radiant Garden… it was also the place where Kairi spilled ice cold water on my head…and the rest of me. I turned slightly and got a glimpse of Kairi blushing, probably at the same memory I was thinking about.

"Why don't we go eat? Its about dinner time" I suggested, eager to replace that memory with a better one.

"Sure Sora I'd love to!" Kairi beamed at me and we head inside.

"Hey Kairi?"

"Yeah Sora?"

"If someone yells "Heartless attack" I'm going to duck ok?"

"That's probably not a bad idea"

_*Lauren*_

I shivered violently as I slipped out of my sweatshirt (donated by Riku) and sweatpants (donated by Kairi) and tossed them carelessly onto the ground before picking up my tank top and pulling it over my head.

I reached down to pick up the shorts and noticed a string coming out of my tank top at the bottom right side. Out of habit I grabbed the string but quickly pulled back when my fingers suddenly went numb. I looked at them in shock to see that they were a deep red. I quickly ran my hand under warm water and tried not to wince at the stinging sensation I got as my hand heated back up.

This time I approached the string more carefully. When my fingers were about an inch away I could feel a cold sensation being given off by the mysterious string. Focusing Fury's power towards my hand I changed my arm's appearance so it resembled Fury's, not mine. Now that my arm was lacking multiple human qualities I grasped the string and pulled it out, surprised yet so unsurprised at what I saw; It was perfectly natural that now that he had found out that I was alive that he would send someone after me to try to kill me…or at least to weaken me. I couldn't help but wonder who his little spies were.

In my hand was a black chain sparkling with eternal ice, an item that only certain beings could create. Beings that lacked the ability to feel hot or cold, and lacked a beating heart.

I headed towards the door so I could show the others my discovery. I would have to get a whole new wardrobe now that my old one was filled with stuff that would kill me in long term. I stopped right in front of my door; I should probably put on some pants before I go out there.

_*???*_

"Well it seems that your plan has been a failure overall from first glance since Lauren managed to find your cleverly hidden eternal ice chains, but do tell me, what exactly _was_ your plan?" I shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

_Midnight I'm begging you- please don't mess this up and get us killed._

**Fine then you talk! Since you're so incredibly smart and special!**

_Thanks for the invitation_

I stepped forward and explained myself;

"Well we both understand that you have decided to kill Lauren yourself and we had no intention of killing her after you so clearly stated that. We merely meant to weaken her, and make her suffer. We figured it would be more entertaining for you before we brought her here for you to finish her off." He stiffened when I said the word weaker, probably assuming I meant he needed assistance but smirked when I mentioned Lauren suffering. It looked like I was off the hook. Finally he spoke and I was motionless, waiting for the final decree

"Very well, Nightshade. I must admit the operation was quite enjoyable from my stand point and I do admire you and Midnight's creativity. It was a very good idea to make your presence known to Lauren without her actually seeing you. Very well done. I would like you to keep watching her until I give you the order to make yourselves known which will be very soon, believe me. But before you go back to your task there is someone I want you to find."

An image appeared in the center of the black table that he and Aros were sitting at. I stepped forward so I could see her better and as I began to recognize her I could see my Master's plan unfolding before my eyes. I finally understood what he was planning. I smirked

"We will find her immediately" My Master smiled

"Very good"

**And there is chapter 21! The next chapter is a very big chapter. Here's my spoiler- The entire plot will be completely twisted around and set off in an entirely new direction! This last part was from Nightshade's POV in case you didn't catch on. And Aros is the name of the first ???'s POV person you read from. I'm getting more reviews than ever (THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!) I'll try to update later this week!**

**Also I've decided to post a little just-for-fun question that kinda has to do with the chapter at the end of each chapter for people to answer in their reviews (if they want to) So here is my first question (I will add a new one with every chapter if I can remember to make up new ones):**

**Will Riku ever understand the concept of knocking?**


	22. The Most Bloodthirsty Enemy Of Them All

**The big chapter is here! Really this chapter is pretty big. The next few chapters are going to be explaining this chapter! I got an above average amount of reviews for the last chapter (Thank you everyone) And I got five questions (from the same person…that's ok though!) Ok so here we go:**

_Young Gun Kid- __Can Sora hold more then one Keyblade without going into any of his Drive forms?_

**Me- Probably not in this book…maybe at the climax and probably in the sequel.**

_YGK-__Will Sora and Roxas do a drive together or a super powerful move maybe even with Riku?_

**Me-*Shrug* if people want me to.**

_YGK-can Lauren use the ice keychain and make it into a Keyblade?_

**Me-Nope. It's made strictly for freezing people to death slowly.**

_YGK-Where did Fury go?!_

**Me-If I had to guess I'd say she's in the Realm of Darkness sulking because Lauren and Silver Haired Bastard are dating.**

_YGK-Will you make a fight between Riku and Axel vs. Sora and Roxas?_

**Me-If people want me to! **

**Ok now for the chapter!**

_*Riku*_

"Come on you gotta wake up! We are landing at Beast's Castle in twenty minutes!"

"No leave me alone" I groaned, feebly attempting to brush away a pair of insistent hands. I heard a girl sigh in exasperation. _You know how to get me up, come on go ahead…_

"Damn you Riku" the girl groaned and a moment later I felt someone's lips press gently against mine. I did my best not to ruin the kiss by smiling and kissed her back softly, gently putting my hand against the back of her head, feeling her soft blond hair. After a moment the lips pulled back and I opened my eyes up halfway.

"Good morning sweetheart" I said with a yawn. Lauren looked at me and raised an eyebrow

"Sweetheart? Excuse me?" she asked, surprised by my terminology. I just grinned and got out of bed, stretching my arms out and yawning again. My moment was cut short as a huge _bump _rattled the ship and caused me to fall back onto my bed, Lauren tumbling forward and landing on me.

"Well aren't we a little forward" I asked her, smirking at her look of discomfort

"You're a real jerk you know that?" She asked before getting up. She had said it while smiling though so I knew she meant it in the most affectionate way possible.

_*Kairi*_

_Well I definitely wouldn't want to live here_. I shivered and zipped up my dark blue jacket, as we all headed up towards the giant castle. The world was forever dark and cold, with a light sprinkle of rain. One of the Princesses of Heart lived here though, much to my surprise. I couldn't imagine living in a place like this. Lauren, who was walking next to me, paused for a moment and glanced over her shoulder at the gate we had entered in through.

Sora had landed us in the woods so we had had to walk for maybe ten minutes through the woods before we found this castle. So far I had heard six wolves howl. Finally we made it up to another tall gate which Sora shoved open casually, leading us into a dark courtyard with gruesome looking statues at its edges. Suddenly I heard the sound of stone breaking and the statues had taken on a Heartless form. I quickly summoned my blade as a flying Heartless with its feet molded together came flying at me wielding a large axe.

I ducked under his attack but before I could bring up my blade to attack him Lauren jumped in the air and flipped before bringing her blade down on the Heartless, slicing it in half with ease. _Now why can't I fight like that?_ Lauren and I worked together the rest of the time, not that I particularly liked the strategy but hey, whatever kept my heart in my chest. Once the six or so Heartless were gone Riku, who was now at the head of the group, gestured us forward but before we could walk very far, maybe fifty more Heartless appeared, blocking our way. Lauren came up in front of us without a word and began to phase.

Her hair changed to match the black sky and her clothes changed into a shredded shirt and a black tank top. A white wing and a black wing sprouted out of her back. The rest of the changes I couldn't see. Lastly, she summoned up her deadly black sword in a small flash of blue and black lightning. She positioned herself in a fighting stance but before she could even attack a single Heartless they began vanishing, disappearing into small puffs of smoke as they teleported to another world.

"Well what the hell was that all about" Riku had a way with words, as always. Lauren-now-Fury looked back and winked.

"Heartless know that meeting me is death. I am a famous Dark Being after all" Fury said. She turned around and began to change back with each step. By the time we reached the doors of the castle Lauren was back again. She knocked on the castle door lightly a few times and we all waited. She looked back at the door and tapped it again experimentally with her knuckle before punching her hand into the door as hard as she could. The sound echoed throughout the courtyard but still no one answered.

"Well that was rude" Roxas remarked

"Here I got this! I have been breaking down doors much longer than any of you have" Axel said, walking through the small crowd of us to the front.

"I beg to differ" Lauren muttered, but she stepped out of the way so Axel could attempt to knock this door down. _Who knew Riku's Nobody was so stupid?_ Lauren glanced at me and laughed and I realized that she had probably caught that stray thought of mine. Axel to a few steps back from the door before charging at it…just as it was opened by a girl with chocolate brown eyes, dark brown hair, and was wearing a beautiful yellow dress. Unfortunately she became the victim of Axel's attack and was knocked down by him with a scream.

"Help it's the Organization!" she screamed and I was fairly surprised. I hadn't expected her to know anything about the Organization. Axel was too perplexed by her appearance to be of much help.

"Well hello there beautiful" Axel said with a wink. Riku came up and pulled Axel off of the poor girl.

"Don't worry we aren't here to attack you! Axel's an ex-member of the Organization. We destroyed them but he survived because he's my Nobody" Riku explained. The girl had her hand over her heart and was breathing fast.

"So the Organization is gone?" _Ok so maybe she is still a little behind_

"Maybe I can help with this" Sora said, stepping his way up to front."You remember me, right Belle?" Sora asked and I saw Belle's eyes widen as she began to recognize the boy in front of her.

"Oh Sora it's so good to see you again! I'm so glad you have come back for a visit!" Belle exclaimed, pulling Sora into a big hug. The guys' eyes were full of envy all except for Riku, who had been tamed by a quick glare from Lauren. He pretended to be completely oblivious to the scene in front of him and acted like he wasn't dying from jealously of his best friend. _Acted_ is the keyword. Selphie shot me panicked look and I just waved it off, this girl was like ten years older than him so I didn't have anything to worry about…right?!

Once Belle had released Sora he took an exaggerated breath that Belle laughed at before gesturing us in. The castle was much warmer on the inside than the out side, in more ways than one. I pulled off my jacket and looked around. The large room had magnificent maroon carpeting lining the way towards a grand staircase that split off in two different directions. To the right and left of the room were different doors leading into other rooms. One in particular on the right caught my eye because the doors were open and an orangish light was leaking out of it. If I had to guess I would say there was a fire in that room. Up above us were three large chandeliers that were spread out among the room so no place was shadowed.

"Wow this place has really changed!" Sora exclaimed, looking around.

"Well I did do a little remodeling since you were here" Belle said with a smile. "I'm sure the Prince would be delighted to see you all! Come I think he's in the ballroom" Belle said with a smile I didn't quite understand.

"Wait…you said Prince…so that means…" Sora took off running towards the ballroom while everyone else's gazes focused on Belle. Mine was out of confusion but I doubt that was why the guys were looking at her.

"A long time ago the Prince was greedy and selfish, and only cared about himself. One night, in the middle of a storm an old woman came to his door and begged that she should be allowed to stay with him that night until the storm ceased. But the Prince cruelly refused her and sent her away. The old women transformed into a young and mighty Enchantress and changed the Prince into a terrible Beast. She said that only when he could love and be loved in return would he transform back into the prince he used to be. But, he was given a time limit. The Enchantress gave him an enchanted rose and said he only had until the last pedal falls to find love. Otherwise he would be stuck as a Beast forever. His servants were also transformed into inanimate objects that could walk and talk. Like tea cups or clocks. But now everyone has been changed back!" she finished happily.

"Because you two both love each other" I said quietly. She nodded before gesturing us forward.

"Come, I'm sure he will want to meet all of you." And with that we headed down the hallway.

_*Sora*_

I stopped my conversation with the Prince and turned around when I heard the door open. All of my friends, lead by Belle, came into the ballroom and gawked at its splendor. It was a beautiful room with expensive carpets and curtains everywhere and a gigantic chandelier in the center of the room, sending light through the entire room.

I saw Riku's eyes widen at the Prince's appearance and realized that they had already met…_Uh-oh._

Riku sort of stayed to the back of group and lagged behind a bit, doing his best to concentrate on anything other than the Prince. He didn't have much of a chance though when everyone came up to meet him. Everyone introduced themselves and the Prince likewise with joy and patience that I had never known him to have.

"And what's your name?" he asked to the one person who hadn't introduced himself.

"My name's…Riku" Riku said, looking up at the Prince and seeming small and confused. The Prince's eyes darkened at the mention of Riku's name.

"So you're Riku. Well since you are a friend of Sora's I figured I would meet you eventually" His tone was not friendly.

"I'm sorry for everything that I've done to you and to Belle. I'm not going to try to make up an excuse for why I did it because I knew exactly what I was doing at the time and I didn't care. But believe me, there isn't a day that goes by when I don't wish I could take back everything I had done. To you and to Belle and to anyone else I hurt. I truly am sorry" Riku said, hanging his head. I don't think I had ever heard him say anything so sincere.

"But you do have an excuse" Lauren said quietly, but everyone turned to her since it had been silent. "You were possessed, by Xehanort's Heartless and didn't know what you were doing…" her voice sounded distant, but everyone was transfixed by it. The Prince seemed hypnotized by her voice and was slowly nodding his head in agreement. Suddenly Lauren's head snapped up to hold a gaze with me.

"I've had about enough of this!" she yelled before sprinting towards the doors out of the ballroom. She stopped at them and turned back to us. "Don't follow me" she said before slipping out of the room.

"I don't remember you ever mentioning her" the Prince said

"Yeah she's new to the group. But she has a good sense of when things are wrong and something's really been bothering her. You stay here with Belle!" Then we all headed after Lauren.

_*Roxas*_

Lauren was just leaving the castle as we all entered the opening room.

"What the hell…" I had never known Lauren to act like this. I looked over at Axel and he shrugged. Riku was already halfway to the door and we all sprinted after him. Lauren was nowhere to be found in the courtyard so we had no choice but to keep going. We all sprinted to the gates of the castle, marking the end of the Prince's estate. The gates had been opened cruelly; one was off its hinges and was lying in the mud.

"Your girlfriend has quite the attitude" Tidus murmured to Riku.

"I have an attitude too. One you don't want to mess with" Riku said, glaring down at Tidus. He backed up a bit and after a moment between them Kairi started forward, signaling us all to follow. I caught a glimpse of Lauren in the woods once which said that at least we were going in the right direction. After maybe another fifteen to twenty minutes of running we reached a flat plain. It was brighter here, the amount of light you get on a cloudy day that never does bring rain.

"I told you not to follow me!" A voice exclaimed from behind us. I turned around to see Lauren and Fury standing side by side. Lauren looked scared while Fury just looked annoyed. "Now we might all be in trouble" Lauren grabbed Fury's hand and they became one person. "I'm serious this time-don't follow me" Lauren said before running out further into the clearing. None of us moved because she stayed with in our range of sight.

_**Nobody think of Fury okay? Just shove her out of your mind right now.**_

I looked around to see if anyone else had heard that message and the expressions on everyone else's faces said that they did. Suddenly a high-pitched shriek of laughter was heard.

"Oh I'm so lucky today! The high and noble girl brought _friends_! Oh this is great!" The voice sounded almost child-like, but there was a threat hidden in it. And something about the voice gave me chills. A bolt of black lightning struck the world and in the blink of an eye it was gone and a…creature stood where the lightning had struck. Lauren leapt back and summoned up her blades. The creature smiled at her with a terrible gleam in its eyes.

"What do you want?" Lauren snarled

"I'm afraid I've been given awful orders to kill your friends and devour their hearts. All because you refused to die when you were supposed to," The creature, which looked and sounded like a girl, pretended to wipe away a tear.

_*Lauren*_

_Aw shit. If I survive this I'm in big trouble. Riku will probably rip me to shreds. "Did I forget to mention that I died? Oops my bad"_

"Are you a Dark Being" _Roxas no! Ugh Roxas you just killed us all! _I couldn't blame him though. She looked almost exactly like Fury except her eyes were a deep shade of violet and she had a black tank top on that ended maybe an inch above her belly button and a pair of super short black shorts. I wouldn't have taken her seriously if it wasn't for the black and red torture device hooked to the side of her shorts. It was an Assassin's Whip. She was trained and paid to kill those who threatened her…well species, if that's what they were.

"No. I'm much better. See we have _personalities_, while Dark Beings are just kind of there. And my eyes only turned red when I'm pissed off." The abomination of nature said. "My name's Stardust by the way" My eyes widened

"I know your partner" Stardust looked at me sharply, her eyes turning red. _Oh way to go Lauren. Piss off the She-Devil!_

"_Knew_. Until you killed her!" She shouted. A large black orb gathered at the end of her hand and she swung her hand out towards me, the orb leaving her hand. I quickly ducked and was surprised as it shot into the air before plummeting back to the ground, right in the middle of the forest. Blackness shot up the trees and coated them. A minute later the darkness evaporated and all that was left was a barren wasteland. I could see our ship plainly now, maybe a mile away.

"I hate trees" Stardust said with a sigh. _What the hell?_

"I'm not letting you near my friends" I told her, blocking her path. Her eyes narrowed

"Well then I guess you'll just have to do instead" She was a blur as she lunged forward and slashed her black nails against my cheek before flipping back to her previous spot. My cheek felt hot and I felt something warm slide down the side of my face.

"I forgot how fast you bitches were" I said, wiping the blood off my cheek with the back of my hand.

Stardust summoned up another small black orb and shot it into the ground. The black seeped into the ground, turning it black. It spread out into a perfect circle of a pretty large size. Then the darkness shot up to create a force field around us, sealing off anyway I could've used to escape. I heard the others run up and stop a few feet from the edge of the force field. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Riku hold a hand up to it carefully, but as soon as his hand touched it he went flying back like he had been electrocuted. I turned towards him just as Stardust lunged for me.

I turned towards her and bent backwards like I was doing the limbo. Stardust's hand shot past me just an inch above my head. I put my hands on the ground and kicked feet up, hitting her in the stomach. She went flying backwards and as she flipped over she brought her finger tips to the ground before pulling back suddenly. She landed easily but the motion had pulled at the darkness in the ground and it was headed straight for me, the ground heaving itself up in deadly spikes. I spun around, blue energy gathering at the end of my blade and once the black spikes were close enough I released it and watched as it destroyed the darkness.

Stardust's eyes widened and she pulled the whip off her shorts and snapped it against the force field, where the two colliding forces created a firework show. She then ran towards me and shot the whip out. I blocked it with the Ultima Weapon but the whip wrapped around my blade and pulled me towards Stardust. Instead of being dragged I sprinted towards her and once we were about a foot apart I jumped over her, causing her whip to go over her shoulder. I spun my blade around once and the whip responded by wrapping around its owner's throat.

If it was possible to choke her kind believe me I would've. But they unfortunately didn't breathe so that strategy wouldn't work. Instead I cast a lightning spell at the whip and the lightning coursed through the whip, shocking Stardust. She shrieked and collapsed to her knees. She put her hand on the ground and faded into the darkness. _Wait is that it?!_

I couldn't remember what it looked like for them to die but that had seemed pretty final. The force field faded and I quickly headed towards my friends, my blades vanishing from my hands. They were just standing in shock at what they had just seen. Suddenly a hand wrapped around my throat and pulled me back. I felt a body behind me and gasped for breath as the hand tightened.

"Cool trick huh?" Stardust snarled in my ear. "Now here's how this is going to work-I'm going to sink my fangs into your throat, you'll die, I'll devour your heart, and then I'll kill your friends one by one."

"Stardust! Remember your place!" Another voice screeched from behind her, sounding painfully high-pitched as their kind often does. I heard Stardust turn towards the voice and I summoned up my Keyblades before stabbing them into the body behind me. Stardust gasped and let go of me before staggering backwards. I turned around to the Keyblades both stabbed into the middle part of her body, where her stomach would be if she was human. The Keyblades vanished and appeared back in my hands, the ends dripping with the venom that replaced Stardust's blood. Purple venom dripped out of Stardust's body and evaporated in a puff of steam when it came into contact with the ground, like acid.

"Its going to take a lot more than that to kill me" She said with a smile before turning to two other members of her kind who were coming towards the two of us. "Thanks a lot Nightshade" she said sarcastically to one of them.

"Oh boo-hoo" Nightshade replied and her partner laughed quietly. They both had blue streaks in their hair which stated their position. While Stardust's red streaks said she was an assassin, their blue streaks said they were spies.

"Ok take your pick, you can have three of them" The other said, gesturing towards my friends. Stardust looked them over before pointing to three of them.

"The silver haired guy, the petite blond, and the idiot who thinks I'm a Dark Being" All three of them laughed at Roxas' stupidity.

"Your all idiots if you think you're getting any of my friends" I said before stabbing my blades into the ground. The darkness swarmed them and built up in the blades, turning them black but not destroying them. I put my hands on the hilts of the blades and forced the darkness to do my will. A large force field shot up between me and the three heart-eaters.

"Go back and heal yourself" Nightshade said to Stardust before turning to her partner. "Midnight please tell me you didn't forget to bring-

"Of course I did…didn't. I have them here!" Midnight pulled out a small black pouch and dumped the contents into her hand, giving half of them to Nightshade. Each of them held four small glass balls with what looked like smoke in the middle of them. The smoke was churning restlessly, making it look almost alive. _Oh God no, please not those._ Nightshades ran her fingers lightly over her four orbs and smiled at me through the force field. I backed up until I was even with my friends.

"What are those things?!" Sora whispered urgently in my ear. He was obviously taking this one obstacle at a time.

"I think they are Shadow Dogs" I whispered back, hoping I was wrong.

"They are very well-trained don't worry! It only hurts a lot when they tear you apart and they will bring your hearts back to us so we can take of them!" Nightshade laughed evilly before her and Midnight tossed the eight black orbs over the force field.

"They are impossible to defeat because they are made of shadow" I whispered to Sora

"What do we do?" Sora asked as they plummeted to the ground. They landed and the glass casing shattered, releasing eight shadows into the ground.

"Run!" I screamed and we all took off sprinting towards the ship.

_*Riku*_

As I sprinted I caught a glimpse of one of the so-called Shadow Dogs beside me. It leaped up from the ground and my eyes drank in the horrible appearance. It was about the size of a minivan with sharp black claws against a gray body. Its red eyes glared at me and huge white fangs manifested themselves as the thing snarled at me. Most of its body was covered in what looked like yellow and white armor, leaving only its face, its paws, and maybe its stomach revealed. I certainly wasn't going to be the one to check. Once it came in contact with the ground again it sank back into the dirt, becoming a black shadow once more. It dropped back with the others and I sprinted harder. Lauren came up beside me.

"Give me a hand up." She said. I looked at her

"What?!"

"Now!" she said before jumping in front of me. I spun around so I was facing the Shadow Dogs and cupped my hands together. Lauren's foot landed in my hands and I projected her up into the air. For the second time that day blue energy gathered at the end of her blade and just as four of the dogs leaped at me she released the energy. When the blue wave hit the dogs they evaporated into shadows and sunk into the ground as small clumps. I watched for a moment, perplexed, as the shadows slowly pieced themselves back together.

"Come on!" Lauren landed and sprinted towards me, grabbing my hand as she passed and jerking me towards the gummi ship, which was maybe a fourth of a mile away.

Sora summoned his Keyblade and shot a jet of light at the ship, causing the ramp up to the ship to open slowly. I ran faster. I could tell the Shadow Dogs were getting closer. Even though they were just shadows at the moment their footsteps seemed to vibrate the ground under my feet, getting stronger and stronger.

Finally my feet hit the ramp and I grabbed Lauren's hand, helping her up the ramp which closed behind us, since we were the last ones. Sora ran to the controls and shot us off while Lauren opened a huge portal above us. Everything was dark for a moment before we came out the other end of the portal and then we were suspended in an empty gray abyss.

"Where are we?!" Sora exclaimed, turning towards Lauren. Everyone waited, breathing hard, for Lauren's response.

"We are in the Realm of Nothingness. We should be safe here while I explain myself. The realm is huge and I don't think they will think to look for us here." Everyone started shouting questions at once.

"Hey quiet!" I yelled. "Nobody is going to find out anything if we keep yelling. One at a time"

"Are Belle and the Prince going to be ok?!" Kairi asked frantically. Lauren nodded

"They were after me specifically."

"What were those things?" I asked voicing the question we all wanted to know. We had all formed a semi-circle around Lauren and she looked down and took a deep breath before looking up at us.

"Those things are called Demons."

**Duh duh duuuuhhhh! Confused? Excited? Enjoyed the action-packed chapter?! As I said before- the next few chapters explain this chapter. They will also explain Lauren's life before this chapter (I spoiled the story AGAIN! Ugh) I'll update soon! Of course I have to plan out the next few chapters carefully so there aren't any gaps in the story line…I'll get back to you guys (Review please)**


	23. Part I: Biography Of A Blonde

**I'm back everyone! This chapter is going to be part 1 of 2 just so you know. And I'm not going to put a 'story so far' thing into this chapter since I kinda just posted one yesterday… Ok so since I forgot a random question of interest in the last chapter I made sure to add one this chapter at the bottom! But read the chapter first. So I'm getting a lot of new reviewers (yay) and…yeah. No questions though so go read the chapter before I start pointing out more pointless things.**

_*Lauren*_

There was nothing but silence as everyone waited for me to explain. The silence stretched out farther and farther.

"Are you planning on talking anytime soon or are we just going have to stand here?" Riku said, glaring at me. I couldn't blame him for being mad. We were supposed to be dating after all, and I had kept a lot of secrets from him.

"I'm just trying to think of a good place to start…oh I know! I'll start right after I died" _That seemed like as good a place as any._

"Wait you died?!" Sora exclaimed, as everyone else voiced their shock.

_Did I really forget to mention that?_

**You may have forgotten to tell them that.**

"Ok well then maybe I should start before I died but after my world was destroyed" I suggested and was once again faced with shock. "Oh come on you guys must've figured that out by now!" I snapped

"Well…in all honesty we really don't know hardly anything about you. We don't even know how old you are." Kairi said, and a few people nodded as she spoke.

"Well I'm pretty sure I'm sixteen…a lot of my memory went away after I died" I explained, noticing that Riku brightened up a little when I mentioned my age. "Why don't I just start from the very beginning then?" I suggested and finally people were nodding in agreement to what I was offering.

"Well" I began, my voice sounding wistful as I thought of my life once upon a time. "I suppose I could bore you with all the tragic details of how my childhood was so awful and was the worst time of my life but in all honesty it wasn't. I had rich parents who I saw maybe once a year, twice if I was lucky. I got everything I could ever want as long as I didn't get arrested or do drugs. The house was always filled with a variety of people who took care of the house and who took care of me, and when I wasn't at home at was at the private school I went to that was maybe ten minutes or so from my house. Of course, going down the driveway took about five minutes alone…" My voice trailed off as a vision from my memory played before my eyes.

_*Flashback*_

"Time to get up Ms." Nancy, the women who was pretty much my permanent babysitter, gently shook my shoulder, telling me it was time for another day. It was pathetic, a forty year old women calling a sixth-grader Ms. Lauren, or some other proper title like that which you would give your superiors.

"Alright I'm up" I said, pulling back my sheets and getting out of bed as Nancy backed up.

"What would you like for breakfast Ms.?" Nancy asked me and I tried not to roll my eyes.

"Same as everyday" _Nothing_

"I'll have your breakfast ready when you come down" Nancy said before backing out of the room. Everyday she would ask me what I wanted and I would always say the same thing. Everyday she would put food out on the expensive dark wood mahogany table and it would sit there until after I left for school and would be tossed into the trashcan. A mom or dad may try to make their child eat, worrying about their health and their weight. But my parents might as well have been non-existent for the place they held in my heart.

The people who worked around the house, keeping it in shape and taking care of me knew better then to force me to do something. They could bribe me and beg for me to listen but everyone knew better than to force me. If they did a bruise would appear on my arm, I would make a phone call to mom or dad, saying that particular person had hurt me, and the next morning I would wake up to someone new in that position and the previous worker in jail for child abuse. Things could happen that fast when your parents had enough money to buy Hawaii.

_*End Flashback*_

"So it sounds like you had a pretty good life…other than the fact that your parents practically pretended you didn't exist." Sora stated. I nodded

"I always figured I was an accident child so my parents threw themselves into work so they wouldn't have to spend time with me" I said it without blinking but noticed that Kairi, Selphie, and even Riku flinched at my words. It was the world I had grown up with. I didn't know what having actual parents felt like so I couldn't feel like I was missing out on anything.

"Were you like worshipped at school because you were rich?" Tidus asked, smiling in spite of himself. He had seemed like more of a materialistic person. I smiled

"Everyone at my school was rich actually. They worshipped me for a different reason…"

_*Flashback*_

"Don't they ever get bored of staring at us?" I asked, turning to my one and only friend. We had always been best friends and were actual friends with nobody else. Sure people looked at us with envy and tried to get in on what we had, but nobody else really understood us like we understood each other.

"Maybe it's because of the skeleton walking down the hallway" My best friend Erika joked, elbowing me in the side. Her green eyes sparkled and she tugged a dirty blond strand of hair off her lips as it got stuck to her pink lip gloss once again. I once again thought about how if it wasn't for her cut up wrists every guy within one-hundred miles would probably be tripping over themselves to go out with her.

"Or because the girl next to her looks like her wrists just came out of a pencil sharpener." Yeah that was us, the anorexic and the girl who cut herself. We were given endless opportunities thanks to our parents but upon being ignored all that pain and abandonment worked up in our systems and made us do these things. Erika's mom had died giving birth to her and her dad all but abandoned her. Every month a huge amount of money would just show up at her house, which was why she lived in such a nice neighborhood and could go to such a nice school. But deep down I knew she felt like it was her fault that her mom had died.

Girls looked at us with envy, which I didn't understand. Maybe what we did was cool in their eyes. The girl who worked out every night but just couldn't lose those last few pounds glared at me and the girl who wanted to complete her Goth look but got queasy at the sight of blood glared at Erika. Whatever the reason we turned heads every time we went down the hall.

So since its Friday are we having a sleepover at your house tonight?" Erika asked as we entered our science room, both sitting down at one of the lab tables and sitting our books down on the cold black surface. I took a deep breath as we sat down and Erika looked at me, concern in her eyes. Yes I was anorexic and yes I had passed out and woken up in the hospital before. Sure now I was pretty good at keeping myself conscious but hey, mistakes happen. Once upon a time I was able to play sports but I just couldn't anymore, it was too exhausting.

"Of course! Just like every Friday" I said with a smile. "Bring your appetite though." Whenever Erika was at my house she would always eat at least some of my dinner for me so it would look like maybe having Erika around helped my condition, so I would never be forced to stay in the house until I ate or anything drastic like that. Erika nodded

"I sure will. Can't have my best friend looked up in the hospital with food fed to her through a tube now can I?" She asked and we both laughed, knowing nothing like that would ever happen.

_*End flashback*_

As I finished telling that part of my life I blushed at the stares I got. It was just school a long time ago. Riku, who was now standing next to me wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him. I heard Kairi and Selphie both give little "Awes" at the scene and I gently laid my head against Riku's chest.

"I have to keep going you know." I told Riku and he looked down at me.

"Does it get worse?"

"No. It gets better" _Because in an ironic way, the Heartless were the ones that saved me. Once I had to start fighting for survival my anorexia became a thing of the past._

_*Flashback*_

**I am on my roof.** I pressed the send button on my phone before sliding it back into my jacket pocket, being sure that it wouldn't slip out and fall off my roof. A moment later my phone vibrated and I took it back out. The screen read: _Message from Erika._ Two options were below the title which was View Now and View Later. I pressed the View Now with my finger and a response from Erika came up.

**Wat?! You cant b serious! **I smiled before replying

**I am! Im up on my roof and it's a very nice view. Don't worry I wont fall! **I looked back up at the full moon and pointed out different constellations to myself. I was in the middle of tracing Orion when Erika responded.

**Ur crazy! Ur so gonna fall off ur roof and then your dog will have nobody to take care of it…and no I dont want ur maneating dog! He'll eat me!**

**Lmao**

**Poor max the giant german sheppard wont have anyone to love him anymore :'(**

**Ok ok I'll get down! I did like it up here tho…. Oh my god :O**

**Wat? Did u fall?! I told u so!**

**No theres something in my driveway. *gulp* I think it's a person.**

**Get down from ur roof and call 411!!!!!**

**Do you need a local listing?**

**Sry typo. I ment 911! Seriously get down!**

**Ok I'll txt u once the guy gets arrested…or eaten (if I send max on him)**

I leaned a bit closer over the peak of the roof to try and get a better look at the thing. The lights at the front of our house only showed the person's shadow. But as the person crept further into the light I realized it was only a shadow!

"What the…" The shadow-creature looked up at me and blinked with its big yellow eyes and three more shadows appeared out of the ground! I heard a loud clap of thunder and looked up to see a he dark orb with different colored lights flashing around it like lightning. In the very center of the orb was a large red glow.

"What is that thing?!" I exclaimed, quickly picking up my phone to call 911, but before I could press call a huge jolt shook the entire roof and the phone fell out of my hands, falling down the roof side before tumbling over the edge to the ground five stories below it. The only problem was that I was well on my way to sharing my phone's fate. I gripped the black shingles but recoiled reflexively as one of my nails was torn off. I rolled backwards down the side of my roof, frantically trying to get a hold on anything that could stop me. Maybe if I was healthy I would've been strong enough to stop my falling before I fell over the edge of my roof. But I would never know because suddenly I was standing upright on a large platform made of stained glass…

_*End flashback*_

"It was your Awakening!" Sora exclaimed, looking to me to confirm his thoughts. I nodded.

"It was my Awakening and somehow it saved me from getting crushed five stories below. But if it hadn't come sooner I probably would've lost my heart to the Heartless that night. At first I just ran, but when a Heartless came out of no where I automatically tried to defend myself, which was when the Keyblade appeared. I tried to work my way back to my house but it had been sucked into the giant black orb. A tree was uprooted and my shirt got caught in one of its branches, which took me up too. I woke up in a new world, and met Cloud." I saw as everyone's eyes widened and I continued with my tale.

_*Flashback*_

I groaned as my eyes finally opened to show me a dark alley that smelled like trash. Probably because the alley had multiple trash cans in it but who knows. I looked down to see the mysterious blade in my hands, staying there like a faithful pet. _Keyblade_…the words echoed in my head and it seemed to fit the weapon. Shakily I got to my feet only to crouch back down as the sound of gunfire echoed just outside the alleyway. I heard loud shouts coming from the streets and more gunfire before giving way to silence.

"Hey Cloud check the area. I think everyone cleared the area before the Genesis copies attacked but just double check." (For anyone who doesn't know what Crisis Core is and doesn't know what a Genesis copy is-Genesis is a guy who was good then decided that the good side was too lame for him so he turned evil and made evil copies of himself and sent them to go attack people O_O) A young guy's voice reached my ears ad I shrank back, no sure if I wanted them to find me or not.

The person who I presumed to be Cloud walked right by the alley…before backing up and staring down it. I flinched as he took off his helmet and took a step towards me.

"Hey Zack! I think I found someone…it's a girl" That's when I got up and ran. Cloud called after me "Hey wait! Come back it's not safe!" Suddenly something dropped down in front of me. Without even thinking I swung my Keyblade only to have it blocked by a huge sword.

"Well now someone's a fighter." The guy said, grabbing my arm before I could run away again. Cloud came up behind us panting.

"Good you caught her. Sorry Zack I didn't expect her to run off like that" Cloud told Zack

"It's fine Cloud. Now are you ok?" Zack asked, looking me in the eyes. His eyes were an electric blue and I found myself getting sucked into them. His jet black hair was spiked up in some strange fashion and his well muscled arm still gripped his huge sword.

"The shadows killed everyone" I whispered before collapsing to the ground, sobs racking my body. "They killed everyone and my world fell apart!" I sobbed, my face hidden in m hands. I felt Zack's hand around mine and I was gently lifted back up. I wiped my eyes and looked at Zack. "Have you seen any shadows?" Zack shook his head.

"Just Genesis copies mainly." I blinked in confusion and Cloud stepped in a bit closer, but before he could talk I asked Zack another question, wanting be absolutely positive that this wasn't just some distant part of my world.

"What's this place called?"

"It's called Midgar" Zack replied evenly. I held back another sob, so I really wasn't home and I really wasn't ever going to go back again.

"Why don't we take her to Aerith? I'm sure she can help." Cloud suggested and after a moment Zack nodded.

"That's a good idea. Alright let's head to the slums then. Hopefully she'll be at the church…"

_*End flashback*_

"So Zack and Cloud taught me how to fight and I met Tifa, Yuffie, and Aerith. There's still one thing I don't understand though. You see, Yuffie was younger than me… and I was the same age as Tifa…but now I'm…younger"

_*Flashback*_

Zack had died. It didn't seem possible. I had spent a year training along side Cloud to become a part of Shinra (a big company that supported the entire world but was using the planets energy at the same time. They had a lot of enemies and were experimenting with a substance called Mako which could create above-average soldiers. Which is where people like Zack and Cloud came in. Once you were admitted to Shinra in project SOLDIER you were injected with Mako energy which made your fighting become incredibly kickass amazing.) Zack had been killed in battle and Cloud had run off, leaving me alone on the battle field. I would find him eventually but for now…I just needed time to take it all in. I think Cloud did too. He and Zack had been best friends after all. I walked slowly across the battle field, dead people everywhere. I looked down sadly at the Keyblade and almost walked right into a giant mass of swirling blackness. It looked almost like a giant portal. I sensed someone behind me and spun around to attack them but before I could I was pushed through the portal by a pair of hands.

_*End flashback*_

"So someone pushed you through a portal…but how does that explain the age difference?!" Kairi asked.

"Duh! She's a vampire!" Selphie exclaimed, like it should've been obvious.

"That's pretty hot" Riku remarked and I turned around and smacked his arm. He recoiled and his eyes gleamed with a look I didn't figure could be good.

"Easy now little vampire" Riku said before patting my head. Everyone laughed when I tackled him.

"I'm all for you beating up Riku but you have to finish your story first! When did you die and you haven't mentioned Demons at all yet" Sora pointed out.

"Well when I woke up I was in Traverse Town and I was twelve years old, the same age as when I went through the portal. But I found Cloud there in Traverse Town along with Yuffie and Aerith accept they were all older than me! We never did figure out who had shoved me but over five years had passed and I hadn't aged a day. We think that someone somehow suspended me in time but we weren't sure how that was possible. Until I found this place." I waved my hands in a circle, meaning the Realm of Nothingness.

"Wait so…you don't age here?!" Sora exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock. I nodded

"Someone trapped me in the Realm of Nothingness for over five years. I think I know why though."

"And why is that?" Riku asked, sliding back into his chair. The ugly part would need to be told though before I could give my explanation.

"Why don't I finish my story first?" I offered. Everyone nodded and agreement and I got up and left the room.

"I'll finish the story tomorrow! You may not age here but sleep is still necessary!" I called before going into my room, hearing the collective groans of everyone before the door slid shut.

Tomorrow the truth would be out and their choices would save them or they would die alongside me. But it was all up to them. They could choose to die with me but they would do so knowingly. I wouldn't keep them in the dark anymore. When you make an enemy with the leader of the Demons you die. Because Demons can't be stopped.

**Part 1 of 2 is complete! Again people who don't understand Crisis Core I tried to make it as simple as possible. Oh and all you people that were like there's a giant time gap that's stupid pick another world! I laugh in your face (HA!) because I figured out a way around it…ok so I didn't really laugh in your face. I'm just not a laugh in your face kinda person. Let's just say…Fury laughed in your face. Yeah that'll work. Ok so anyone who 'Fury' didn't just offend review please! And anyone 'Fury' did offend please forgive her-she has anger management issues. Oh and here's the random question that I would like a logical or an interesting response to-**

**Why is Riku so damn tall?!**


	24. Part II: Demons 101

**Ok everyone so sorry this is late but my weekend was SUPER busy! (Yes I do have a life you guys) But since today was the first day of Thanksgiving break…or it was thirty minutes ago… (Yay eating lots of food and gaining five pounds…oh I'm such a girl) I spent a lot of my time focused on this chapter. It was 11 pages on my Word '07 so a bit longer than usual (we'll say it's my thanksgiving treat to you guys). Oh and not to brag but the first six and a half pages are pure gold (ok so maybe they aren't THAT great) but I've never had that much fun writing EVER. Ok go read it! I'll try to update before break is over but no promises. Oh and this is part two of what is know a three part section of the story so we are right in the middle!**

_*Lauren*_

I slowly opened my eyes and stretched out my limbs, struggling to wake up after a nice, dreamless sleep. I snuggled back under my sheets and decided I would try to get in a few mores minutes of sleep before someone woke me up and made me explain my life to all my friends. Naturally once I decided to try and sleep some more I was jolted awake.

I had just settled back into my bed when I heard someone behind me groan and the arms around my waist shift slightly. As to when someone put their arms around my waist I had no idea. That's why I was freaking out.

"Riku what the hell?!" I shrieked rolling over and shoving him out of my bed.

**He did you…we…I know it was Riku?**

_Because You We I could smell him._

**Seriously You We I could?!**

_No that was a joke._

**I was just wondering why you could smell him and I couldn't. And**_** I'm**_** the scary looking creature!**

_Oh I am quite terrifying._

**No your not. **

_Am too!_

**No**_**.**_

"Riku where did you come from?!" I asked him, propping my head up with my hand. Riku looked up at me from the ground and sighed

"I was trying to rape you. I may have forgotten to mention this but I'm a sexual offender." He shrugged "What can I say?"

"And I'm an assassin" _At least one of us is telling the truth._

"That's awesome. Soooo…can I get the shower first_?" _He gave me a faint smile. I smiled back warmly before jumping out of bed, landing on his back, jumping onto _his_ bed, off his bed, and then running into the bathroom.

"That's for trying to rape me!" I shouted before slamming the door. Two seconds later Riku was pounding on the bathroom door.

"I was joking!" he yelled at the door.

"I wasn't!" I sang before turning on the shower water. While I was waiting for said shower water to warm up I tried to enter Riku's mind, seeing if maybe I could see/hear his reaction.

_**I'm dating an assassin. Hmm that will make things interesting.**_

_What things?_

I thought/asked curiously. I heard another one of Riku's fists punch the door and I laughed softly before stepping into the shower.

_**Stay out of my head!**_

_I was just curious! It's not everyday your girlfriends an ex-assassin!_

_**I'm very glad for the 'ex' part.**_

_You should be! So what things Riku?_

_**I don't know. **_

_Come on Riku I know it's definitely something! That much I can tell_

_**Well like when you come back to the islands with us and meet everyone. Especially my parents. "Hey mom, hey dad.... Yes I know I've been gone for a few months…. I understand I once again failed to tell you…. I figured I was going to be grounded…three months?! You're joking right?!... No? Ok then well that is a big time downer…why you ask? Because I met this hot blond girl on my adventure and now she's my girlfriend…yes she's here with me. She's right outside actually…no dad I'm pretty sure she doesn't have AIDs. Why are you even asking me that?! Wait strike that-I don't wanna know…Oh she used to be an assassin…her names Lauren…mom why are you calling the police…and reporting my girlfriend…you can't arrest my girlfriend…Awww dammit too late.**_

By now I was leaning against the side of the shower laughing my head off.

_**And that's why my parents can't know you're an ex-assassin. And that's what I meant when I said that makes things interesting.**_

_Well I definitely don't what your parents to arrest me…I can't even say that with a straight face!_

_**You shouldn't want to be arrested. Some crazy sexual offender could be your cell-mate!**_

_One that isn't my boyfriend?_

_**Exactly!**_

_Awe my boyfriend has a sense of humor. That's cute._

_**You didn't just call me cute.**_

_Nope I didn't. I called your sense of humor cute!_

_**No! No part of me is cute!**_

_You're very cute Riku_

Riku didn't telepathically communicate with me anymore after that. I couldn't help but wonder if I had somehow offended him by telling him that I thought he was cute. Maybe guys prefer stuff like being called sexy or hot or manly or incredibly strong or stuff like that…naw that couldn't be it! Riku was probably just male PMSing. Yeah that was way more likely.

_***One shower later…..***_

"Riku where the hell are my clothes?!" _God I hate that guy_. So I was in the shower when Riku exclaims that he's going to wet himself unless he used the bathroom_ right then. _Not wanting my boyfriend's abilities to be sent back to the time of potty-training I went ahead and told him he could use the bathroom, but if he was the even the slightest bit perverted about me being in the shower I would kill him. So Riku came in, did his business and left. No problems, not perverseness from him, no problem right? Yeah that's what I thought.

I had forgotten to bring a change of clothes with me into the bathroom, which wasn't much of a problem. I could just change into my sleep-clothes, go out and pick out a new pair of clothes, change, and go on with my life right? Well you are sadly mistaken. The clothes I wore into the bathroom are MIA (Missing In Action). Which brings us back to the present.

"How should I know?" Riku called back from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Well they were in here before I got into the shower, considering I wore them into the bathroom." I explained, waiting for him to confess.

"Oh your tank top and shorts?"

"No Riku my ballerina tutu."

"Well I've seen your tank top and shorts but I have yet to see said ballerina tutu"

"It was sarcasm you idiot! Of course I mean my tank top and shorts! Now what the hell did you do with them?!" I screamed stomping my foot on the ground angrily, which caused a small shower of water droplets from my hair to hit the ground. Yes I was still soaking wet.

"Well once I was done using the bathroom I brought them out here and set them on your bed since I figured you were going to change into something else." Riku explained calmly from the room.

"Do you think you could get me some clothes for me to wear today? I'm in a towel so it would be kind of awkward for me to go out now" I asked sweetly with a small laugh_. Just a misunderstanding. Nothing to freak out about._

"Well actually I'm pretty comfortable. Why don't you just come out and get them yourself." Riku asked, with a tone in his voice that I was really starting to hate. He used it whenever he had fooled someone into doing his bidding, or whenever someone was about to be embarrassed courtesy of himself. My boyfriend was a badass and I adored that, but seriously, doing something like that to your girlfriend is just begging to get slapped in the face and/or your foot stepped on by deadly three-inch heels. Sadly I didn't own any.

"Riku bring me my clothes _now_" I snarled through the door, wishing he could see my glare, because that could be enough to make him change his mind.

"….No" Riku replied and I could practically hear him smirking in triumph. It made me sick. Then, in the midst of my rage I had an idea. I shoved half of myself out of my body, hoping I would be right about this. And I was, since I'm always right about everything.

Fury was standing a few feet away from me with a pissed off expression on her face and a fully-clothed body. I am _smart._

"Can I help you with something?" Fury asked in a way that told me she didn't plan on helping me. That would change quickly.

"I need you to do something for me" I told her with a knowing smile. She raised an eyebrow

"Does it involve inflicting pain on Silver Haired Bastard…I mean your_ boyfriend_?" She asked, saying boyfriend the same way you would say dog crap.

"It can. I just need you to get some clothes for me out of our room." Her jaw dropped

"I'm the most powerful Dark Being in existence and you have me going on errands to pick out clothes for you?!"

"We share a body"

"Yeah I figured that one out on my own genius" _How dare you use my sarcastic personality against me?!_

"Do you want Riku to see you without anything spare a towel on?! Because he technically will be if you make me go out there." Fury was silent for a moment before making a sound very similar to growling.

"Fine I'll be right back" She stomped out of the bathroom and I heard a loud shout from Riku, a thump, something that sounded like tape, and then the almost silent sound of the closet being opened…and closed. And then Fury was once again entering the bathroom.

"Thank you" I sang before quickly getting dressed.

"I'm going to go into the Realm of Darkness. I'm bored" Fury said as I was hanging my towel up.

"You know you shouldn't go there now. I'm sure some Demons will be…there" I turned around just as Fury vanished through a portal. I stomped my foot and groaned

"Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?!" I ranted as I came back into Riku and my room…then proceeded to laugh until my sides hurt.

Riku was tapped, and I do mean quite literally taped, to the wall of our room. And not with like Scotch tape or anything like that. No this was duct tape, the serious stuff that's next to impossible to remove and always leaves a sticky line behind it if you do manage to remove it.

"I really hate your other half" Riku said and I walked up closer so I could better observe the damage. The right side of Riku's face was smashed into the side of the wall and his wrists and ankles were taped to the wall with at large pieces of tape on each wrist/ankle. There was also a large piece of tape the kept Riku's middle right up against the wall. I could see him straining to get out and wondered if Fury had magical tape stored somewhere.

"She put a freaking Gravity charm on the tape" Riku snarled, trying and failing to turn towards me. _Well that explains quite a bit._

"That's what your get for being a pervert!" I teased before experimentally tugging at the tape.

"Did you even know Fury could use the Keyblade?" Riku asked and I paused. Gravity was a spell that the Keyblade possessed, so Fury must be able to use it… I shrugged

"I can summon up her sword so I suppose it makes sense that she can summon the Keyblade" I said before trying to pull a piece of tape off Riku's wrist.

"Oh that's just perfect. A Keyblade bearer with an attitude who has a dark half with an even worse attitude!" He exclaimed.

"Excuse me?!" I yelled, ripping the tape off his wrist, which left behind an angry red rash and made Riku groan. "I do not have an attitude!" I declared and Riku let out a small pained laugh.

"Because yelling at your boyfriend and leaving abuse-marks on him doesn't spell attitude" he joked and I looked at his wrist that had been pinned to the wall. I gently placed my hands on his wrist, which was a deep red and was probably throbbing.

"I'm sorry" I told Riku sadly

"Your hands feel really good" Riku said with a relaxed sigh and I assumed it was because my hands were cold. We both stayed like that for a moment (not that Riku had much of a choice), me gently holding his wrist, wishing the marks would go away. I squeezed his wrist gently for a moment before releasing it and going over to his other arm which was still taped to the wall.

"On three" I offered, realizing this one would be worse because he was facing me. Even though Riku and I still had a bit of a rivalry I hated the thought of intentionally causing him pain. He nodded

"One…" I pulled the tape off and Riku gasped.

"You said three!"

"Well I changed my mind" I said and he frowned at me. I gently ran my fingers over his now injured left wrist before bending down. Hopefully since the tape was only touching his jeans these two wouldn't hurt him so much. Fortunately they didn't.

They were both off in about a minute, whereas the tape across the middle of Riku's back took a lot more effort to remove. It didn't hurt him though so that was much easier. Now we were both in the bathroom and I was in the middle of putting cold wash cloths on Riku's bright red wrists.

"Aaaah that feels so much better." Riku said with a smile. Not able to help myself, I smiled back at him. He looked down at his wrist and messed with the wash cloth for a moment before glancing up at me.

"Yes?" I asked him, seeing as there was something he was trying to say. He pulled the wash clothes off his wrists and I smiled to see the rashes were fading. When I looked up I had maybe half a second to take a breath before his lips were pressed against mine. It was like our first kiss only things happened faster. I almost immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and his hands traveled up my back, firmly holding me against him. As the intensity grew I had maybe one coherent thought before drowning in pleasure which was: _Thank God Fury isn't here right now. _

As quickly as we broke apart my lips were back against Riku's and I felt him back up for a fraction of a second before leaning back in to kiss me. For how long we kept kissing each other I don't know but I suppose what happened next was probably for the best, considering I was risking a heart attack by then.

"Hey are you two ever going to…um never mind" Riku and I broke apart and, seeing as I was not facing door, I spun around angrily, ready to kill whoever had interrupted us…had it been someone other than innocent little Namine. Riku turned a deep shade of red and I slowly began to do the same as the situation clarified. _I had just made out with Riku…in a freaking bathroom of all places…and Namine had seen us doing it. Why oh why God do you hate me so much?_

"! Sorryfordisturbingyouguys!" Namine exclaimed before running out of room, probably vowing to never come back again. I summoned up my courage before turning to Riku, my eyes wide and my face red.

He stared at the door Namine had left through for a moment before looking down at me, a smirk slowly taking residence on his face.

"Well that didn't end well did it? Although the beginning and the middle were pretty nice" I guess teenage guys are required by law to always add something to embarrass their girlfriends into every statement that leaves their mouths.

"Yeah…" I agreed awkwardly, meaning the first thing he said but he took it to mean I was agreeing with everything he had just said. Grinning, he sauntered out of the bathroom and I collapsed to my knees, shaking with humiliation from Namine and Riku. But, being the incredible person that I was, it took me maybe two seconds to regain my composure, and boy did Riku have it coming.

"Let's go Boyfriend" I said, grabbing his hand as I entered our room and pulling him out the door. "Oh and don't count on that happening very often I added as we headed down the hallway. _So maybe 'Riku had it coming' wasn't true but I was not going to let him think that he owned me._

_*Fury*_

_Behemoth I shall kill you with two slashes of my sword._ I silently promised my quickly approaching enemy. The way to get better was to challenge yourself right? Well that's what I was doing…like I needed to get better. As the behemoth approached I shot a large wave of black energy out of my sword which hit the behemoth's legs, causing it to falter, but it kept coming. That was one attack…now one more. Gripping my sword tightly in my right hand I charged the Heartless, preparing to deal the finishing blow. When the disgrace to Heartless was maybe ten feet away I leaped into the air, flipping a few times before beginning my descent. If I had timed this right and my aim was as good as I thought I would slice this things horn in half in three…two…my black sword came down on the deadly horn and there was a splitting sound accompanied with a flash light, followed by a roar as the behemoth died, releasing a captive heart into the air.

"Well that was so easy it was almost sad" I said to myself with a sigh.

_Fury I need you! Its time to finish our explanation._

**Well you have fun with that.**

_Well I wanted you to do it, since you know Demons much better than I do._

**I'm busy. I'm sure you can handle it.**

_But Fury you spent most of your life with them!_

**It's not called 'life' when you're in a realm that can't support living.**

_Whatever you know what I mean! Just come back for a while then you can leave again._

**Fine!**

I sighed again as I opened a portal and, out of a sudden mass of paranoia; I turned around as I stepped through it. Just as the blackness covered my vision I saw a certain Demon assassin appear in the realm. She winked at me and then my vision faded as the dark abyss claimed me.

Naturally though my vision came back before I could count to five, and I was in the control room of the stupid gummi ship my blond half had wasted her munny on.

"Alright everyone I was busy when Lauren called me so here's how this is going to work" My voice commanded immediate and undivided attention, which is of course exactly what I got. "I shall talk, you shall listen, and any violators of these rules shall be killed" I said before taking a place at the head of the table. I slid into the chair and put my chin in my palm before proceeding to explain the mystery that was Demon.

"Now Demons are very complicated creatures so I need all of you to put your think caps on and listen closely…anyone who has gone and lost their thinking cap, Tidus, will just have to try their hardest to keep up.

Nobody knows exactly how Demons were created, because nobody knows how or when they got here. One day they just showed up. Over a century ago people were being killed by Demons left and right and there was a huge war that was fought in order to stop them. The 'good side's' army was a collection of heroes from all over the universe, and the leader of the army was a Keyblade bearer. The war was named The Keyblade Wars. Now the war was won by the 'heroes' and the Demons disappeared for a long time…until just recently. Now the reason the Demons disappeared is not because they were defeated, for Demons _never _give up. They went back to their safe haven, in another dimension which can just be called the Demon Realm, because that's what it is.

They lived there for a long time, under the govern of a new leader, which brings me to a new point-demons are hopeless without some form of leader, especially now that they all have to share a realm. The leader of the Demons back in the time of the Keyblade wars was killed during the war, which is probably why they lost. They need order and command or else they go berserk. There new leader, let me tell you, he is not a force to be reckoned with. But thanks to your blond friend that force has been reckoned with big time. He's a nameless Demon who is the most powerful one in existence. That's how they're leaders our chosen. Demons are the definition of the phrase 'survival of the fittest' the strongest leads, everyone else obeys. If someone challenges authority and kills the previous leader they take over the role, of they fail…well…the rest of their kind tears them to shreds.

Now raise your hand if you have noticed the few Demons you have met were all of the female appearance? And I say appearance because well I'm pretty sure Demons aren't classified as a species…that's right all you science nerds laugh. I'm probably not a member of a species either. (A/N-the official definition of a species is a type of animal that can reproduce…yeah) So all Demons appear to be girls. Why you ask? Because their leader is the only guy Demon in existence. He killed the guy Demons and somehow absorbed their power. I think it was because a Demon can give power to a Dark Being of their 'gender' but they can also take power from a Dark being of their 'gender'. So He (I will capitalize to minimize confusion. He or Him is going to be the Demon leader's name) killed all the guy Demons that way he is the only one who can take or give a male Dark Being power. And he chose to take every single time. So unfortunately only girls have Dark Beings. I mean guys do too but they die within their first day of existence."

"How are Dark Beings created exactly?" Silver Haired Bastard asked timidly, probably fearing I would throw some sharp and deadly object at him. He had a right to be afraid because I was considering it.

"Well let me tell you. Demons are supposed to be powerful creatures so they are created when the light in your heart reaches its peak. I was created when Lauren summoned the Keyblade for the first time, so that means that was when her heart was the strongest."

"How do you know so much about Demons?" Namine asked and I got a strange stray thought from Lauren…her and Riku in the bathroom…doing…wow I'm going to kill her later.

"It's because when Dark Beings are created they somehow end up in the Realm of Demons, and some of them stay there for their entire life while others go out and find their Light Beings and kill them. Because, like the Heartless, Dark Beings seek hearts. And if you kill your Light Being you get their heart. I don't want a heart though so I betrayed the Demons and came to help my Light Being destroy them…which is probably why the Demons want to kill me, Lauren, and now you guys so bad…sorry about that."

"So you lived with the Demons?" Sora asked his eyes wide.

"For thirteen years the Demons influenced me to hate humans. That I was just like them and because they hated Demons I should too, that by killing my Light Being I would become the strongest Dark Being ever. Well they told that to every Dark Being but it was only true in my case."

"So what did that one Demon….Stardust, mean when she said she was going to devour our hearts?" Tidus asked. _Leave it to him to ask the stupid question._

"She meant exactly what she said! You see Demons kill people for their hearts, like the Heartless, except Demons eat the person's heart, well their spiritual heart. Not like their physical heart. The little pink heart shape that rises from your body when you die. That's why when I hurt Kairi I sort of got that hungry look in my eye. And why I was attracted to the Heart of Destiny Islands. Because I lived with creatures that eat your spiritual heart.

In a way Demons are necessary for the balance of things. You see, if Demons didn't eat peoples hearts when they were killed, then those people wouldn't become Heartless. They would become a sort of zombie. Like an in-between person because the spirit of their heart is still there while their true heart isn't. So when a person is killed a Demon must devour their heart or they become and In-Between Person. But if they die naturally their spirit dies along with them."

"So what's the problem with Demons?" Selphie asked

"Well other than their wanting to kill us, which by the way is a very bad thing. If a Demon targets you to be killed, you tend to die. Since it's the Lord of all the Demons we are pretty much screwed. But anyways the problem is lately the Demons have been killing on their own, which technically isn't their job. They are upsetting the balance of nature by interfering with humans. When you think about it, they aren't even from this dimension so they probably don't have a role here."

"But you just said-

"I know what I said. People used to die naturally once upon a time. The Demons tore a huge gash in the fabric of this dimension and entered though it from their old dimension. And they brought the Heartless with them." Everyone's mouths dropped, other than Lauren's, and mine of course.

"As the Heartless seeped into the dimension, darkness in people hearts slowly grew and grew to the point that the Heartless made a permanent residence here. Well that's about it I think…oh wait one more thing. Demons have roles that are given to them upon creation, whenever that is. It is possible that a set of Demons were created along with that dimension and whenever one is killed they just reappear in their realm…although the thought is quite disturbing to think about because that would render them unstoppable." People gaped at me with large eyes and I began to realize that some of them may have previously been under the illusion that I was unintelligent.

"Anyways back to their roles. A Demon can be one of three things-an assassin, a spy, or a trainer. Spies have purple streaks in their hair and it is their job to find and follow whoever they are told to find and follow. They also are responsible for routinely reporting back to their superior about the person. Assassins have red streaks in their hair and well, find and assassinate people. They assassinate who they are told to. They are also given a special weapon called an Assassin's Whip, which is their murdering device. And trainers have blue streaks in their hair and possess the job of training Dark Beings, like me, how to fight and once they are considered 'Demon quality' they are given a certain colored streak in their hair and just like that, the work for the Lord of the Demons. As you can see I was labeled an assassin because of my uncanny ability to kill."

"I just have one question" Sora said and I turned to him.

"If Demon's devour the hearts of those which are killed, therefore preventing them from coming back from their Heartless form, how did I survive to become a human again after I was changed into a Heartless?" I shrugged

"Simple. You must've had someone watching over you to kill the Demon when she tried to devour your heart. That would've made it possible for you to get your heart back. If I had to guess it was probably a traitor Dark Being who killed the Demon that came after your heart. As a matter of fact I know what Dark Being did it, so I suppose I wasn't guessing when I said Dark Being."

"Really?! Who saved me?!"

"I did" I said simply, without blinking. Everyone else gasped thought…except for Lauren.

"What? How? Why were you there?!"

"I can answer that" Lauren said, finally putting some effort into this explanation. "You see, I met all of you a little over two years ago. Back at the start of your first journey!" Lauren said and, once again, everyone gasped. The room was momentarily filled with "Whats?!" "No ways!" and "Hows?!" Lauren waited calmly for the noise to die down before attempting to make everyone remember her.

_*Riku*_

"I met each of you back right after your island was destroyed, or at least, somewhere close to then." We all stared back at her blankly. I definitely didn't remember a blond angel saving me…wait…there was a memory…just out of reach.

"Think of me a bit younger, fourteen…maybe fifteen at the oldest. And my hair pulled back like this." Lauren pulled her hair back and tied it into a messy ponytail behind her head with a rubber band that had been on her wrist. She seemed vaguely familiar…but I just couldn't recall where I knew her from!

"Ok let me try this-I said the exact same thing when I meet each of you, so I'm just going to try and get you to remember me by saying it." She cleared her throat and thought for a moment before talking again.

"Well it was about time you showed up! I was beginning to think you would never come!" she said with a small smile and suddenly, just like that, I remembered her.

**Cliffhanger!!! I've had the next chapter planned for so long and am excited to write it! Unfortunately Namine, Axel, and Roxas aren't in it and there's an over-sized amount of Riku…well I don't consider the latter bad news (I should probably change this story from SoraXKairi to just Riku…) Ok so I know there was a lot in this chapter and if I left something out, you are confused, or there's something extra you would like to know don't hesitate to PM me or just mention it in a review. That being said I shall request that if you liked the chapter please review, and if you didn't like the chapter please tell me what I can do to make it better! Oh and yeah I made up a war called the Keyblade Wars I know. I haven't played that game yet (is it even available in America?) but I just mentioned it because it kind of went along with my story. Not a big deal. Bye guys!**


	25. Part III: Once Upon A Time

**Ok so first thing's first-I am so so so so so so so so so sorry for not updating all month! Life has gotten super hectic like it always does around the holidays. Unfortunately this will probably be my last update of the year…it seems so strange writing that. Anyways the chapter is extra long and I have a special note at the bottom so please check that out! Enjoy the much anticipated chapter!**

_*Selphie's Flashback*_

When my eyes finally opened I found myself on the floor of a strange room. It didn't take me long to realize that either I had shrunk or everything else had grown.

_Where am I? Is this some sort of weird dream? _It definitely seemed to have that dream-like fog to it. But something told me it wasn't a dream…a little voice in the back of my head…

"The islands" I exclaimed, more out of realization than anything else. The last thing I had remembered was a big storm turning off the power in my house…then there was this huge black orb in the sky and these terrible looking creatures and then…darkness. Then I woke up here. A million thoughts flew through my head and amidst my hysteria I realized something-I was on the ceiling…or a floor that looked like a ceiling. When I looked 'up' there was a large table and two chairs and a door with a golden knob beneath me, the typical stuff you would find on the floor!

"What in the world is going on here?!"I cried, on the verge of tears. My island was gone, everything was gone. "Even my jump rope's gone!" I said to nobody.

I spun around to take in my surroundings and just so happened to see a yellow string with a wooden handle attached to the end.

"My jump rope" I cheered happily before running towards it. Just as I bent down to pick it up though two twin blobs of darkness appeared right in front of me. I grabbed my jump rope before leaping back, just in time to see the blobs take on forms of alien-like creatures. Both of them had a strange marking on their chest and their heads were covered in white helmets, only their yellow eyes being visible. They started to run toward me and despite all the fury towards these strange creatures for trying to attack me when I was already confused and upset enough as it is I turned around and ran as fast as I possibly could.

Since I had been standing in the middle of the room none of the exits seemed any closer then another. I just chose the direction that didn't lead towards those awful creatures. Once I reached the wall I ran a few steps to the right where a pile of four books lay, with an opening into a black tunnel on top of them. I climbed the books as fast as I could and ran into the tunnel, not stopping until I appeared in a garden.

I quickly checked behind me and sighed with relief when I saw that those monsters were no longer chasing me. I cautiously walked up to a table that stood in the center of the yard, worried that more of those things would appear. Chairs lined the big table and on it were tea cups and plates. At the head of the table, behind a pink comfy chair, was a picture of what looked like a man and a rabbit, both of them crying. My attention was diverted back to the pink chair when a ghost-like figure appeared in it.

"Well it was about time you showed up! I was beginning to think you would never come!" The figure said, and I realized that the figure looked like a girl! Maybe my age or a year older, she had blond hair that was tied back in a pony tail with bright blue eyes and a friendly smile. She was wearing a teal colored tank top and a pair of shorts, along with a pair of running shoes. Her over-all look was pretty average except for the fact that she had a gold halo around her like an angel and she was transparent.

"W-who are you?" My voice came out quietly and it was trembling. Her smile faded and gave way to a sympathetic frown.

"I'm sorry about your island, but for now its gone and this place…it isn't safe. I can take you somewhere for now, until your island comes back. If you stay here you will lose your heart." She said calmly, but her eyes showed the urgency her voice concealed.

"Lose my heart?! The islands-gone?! Trust you?! I don't even know who you are!" I yelled at her, on the verge of hysteria.

"Those creatures that chased after you were called the Heartless, and if you stay here they will come after you and steal your heart. Your islands were attacked by those same Heartless and for now your world is destroyed, but if the Keyblade Bearer can restore all the worlds then your islands will come back and you can return to them. And I can't tell you my name but I can tell you that I came here to help you. I can take you somewhere where you will be safe from the Heartless until your islands are restored." By then exhaustion had come crashing down on me and I was too tired to ask anymore questions.

"Sounds great…take me there please" I said with a yawn. She smiled and nodded as she got up from her chair and walked over to me. She held out her hand and I heard something familiar to the sound the Heartless made when they appeared behind me. I whirled around, ready to fight whatever this girl had summoned. Instead I was face to face with a black oval maybe a foot taller than I was.

"Through here please" The girl gently grabbed my hand, reassuringly guding it closer to the oval

"A-are you sure?" I asked nervously, leaning towards the black oval cautiously, as if to see whether or not some fearsome thing would jump out and attack me.

"I'm positive. Please go through-I'm sensing I'm needed somewhere else" I looked at her curiously and waved her hand at the blackness in front of me. After taking a deep breath I closed my eyes and stepped through the portal. On the other side I was greeted by warmth and light, along with the every day sounds of a town. I opened my eyes to see that I was standing in the center of a small area filled with stores that were selling various things. I looked up to see an amazing sunset that was probably visible from everywhere in this town.

Just then a small…thing in a big witch-like hat walked by me. I tapped his/her shoulder gently. The thing looked up at me and I smiled nervously.

"Do you think you could tell me where I am? I'm kind of lost and-

"You're in Twilight Town!" The little thing said before running off. _Hmmm Twilight Town…?_

_*Tidus' Flashback*_

The first thing I noticed when my eyes opened was that I was upside down. At first I just figured this was another prank that my older brother had played on me when I realized I was outside…hanging upside down because my foot was caught in a tree branch. Shaking off the last bits of my nightmare, which had included the worlds being attacked by these strange creatures, I turned my head as much as I could to catch a glimpse of how my foot was caught, and if I would be falling anytime soon.

"Hey Tidus!" Wakka called from beneath me. I knew it was him because he put emphasis on the 'I' in my name but made it sound like an 'E'. So according to him I was Teedus. I looked down to see Wakka standing in some small boat that was hanging by two thick ropes that were tied to two points in the tree I was hanging from.

"Why don't ya come on down Tidus?" Wakka yelled up to me

"How do you expect me to do that?!" I yelled back to him. He shrugged. I looked around and noticed a tree branch that was maybe three feet to the right of me and maybe a foot above my head. I swung myself carefully back and forth, trying to reach the branch. Just as I managed to grab onto the branch I heard a cracking sound and suddenly my foot was free. I looked down to the branch fall onto a large expanse of rope that was woven around a giant tree house.

"Now what" I yelled at Wakka.

"Let go! I'll meet ya down on da rope!" He called and with that he jumped out of the small boat before I could protest his awful idea. He seemed to land fairly easily though, and with no visible broken bones that I could notice. Aiming my drop carefully so that I would land in the small raft and then be able to jump down onto the rope I took a deep breath before letting go, my body falling perfectly towards the raft. Of course instead of landing in the raft I did a face plant on the side before falling down onto the rope.

"Wow dat was great Tidus! You a real acrobat" I couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or not. I groaned before getting to my feet

"Now where do we go?" I asked, not really expecting an answer

"We follow dat pretty girl ya?" Well_ that_ got my attention

I turned just in time to see a girl run up a giant tree branch that led up to an even more colossal tree house. I gestured towards the tree house before I started running, with Wakka right behind me. My pace was slowed a bit once the tree branch began to slant upwards but fortunately I didn't fall…unlike my friend.

He tripped over one of the small step-like things that probably weren't there to trip people. I had to wait impatiently for him to work his way back up to where I was before I could continue heading up.

Finally we made it up to the tree house and I couldn't help but stop and gaze. It was _huge_! Whoever had built this must've been planning to live there for, like, ever! After a moment I snapped out of my trance and Wakka and I both walked into the tree house. And there was the girl I had caught a glimpse of. Sitting calmly on a barrel twiddling her thumbs. When Wakka and I came in she jumped off the barrel, a huge smile lighting up her face.

"Well it was about time you showed up! I was beginning to think you would never come!" It was right then that I realized she was transparent and glowing.

"No wonder we haven't broken any bones yet! Wakka, buddy, we're dead!" I cried, turning to Wakka and putting my head on his shoulder out of grief.

"Why would you say that Tidus" Wakka asked me curiously. I gestured towards the girl who was looking at us with concern.

"She's transparent and glowing Wakka. She's obviously an angel" I said, shaking my head sadly. The girl looked at me for a moment before laughing.

"I'm not an angel! But I _am_ flattered" she laughed before walking up to us, her footsteps making no noise as they crossed the wooden floor. "I'm here to help you two. There are creatures in this world called the Heartless. If they attacked you, well, you would most definitely end up in heaven." She looked at us with concern while I just laughed.

"You misunderstand us! You see, we are experts in the art of fighting. I'm sure whatever creatures you have here, the Heartless you called them, we could handle them no problem!" I said, resting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at my hand before flicking it off.

"Look-I came all this way from Wonder freaking land to get you two and you tell me that you don't need me?! If you want to get your hearts stolen fine! Stay here! I might as well go back and check on that Selphie girl…"

"Wait you know Selphie?" Wakka asked, I on the other hand, was still seething over how oblivious she was to my boyish charm. The girl nodded in reply to Wakka's question.

"I can take you to her if you would like. And maybe your friend can come too" She glimpsed at me for a moment before flicking her hand out from her side where a large black oval appeared. She glanced at it momentarily without concern before her gaze rested back on us.

"Are you coming?" She asked us. Wakka and I looked at each other for a moment before nodding. And, just to prove that I wasn't afraid of the black thing, I made a point of walking through it first. I just about peed my pants. I came out on top of a big green hill, right in the view of a magnificent sunset. I looked behind me to see the girl and Wakka come out of the portal, Wakka looking awestruck.

"Wow dat was cool ya?" He exclaimed, looking at me for support.

"It was alright" I said nonchalantly. I refused to be amazed by anything this girl did, now that she had gone and ticked me off.

"Well this place is called Sunset Terrace. If you go to the other side of town you'll find a train. Get on the train and go to Twilight Town. You'll find your friend there." The girl said before stepping back into the portal. Just as it closed she turned back to us.

"You're welcome by the way!" She called before the portal closed. Wakka and I stood there for a moment before Wakka broke the silence.

"She was pretty ya?"

"Shut up Wakka. Let's just go find Selphie. Now what direction was that train in?"

_*Sora's Flashback*_

_Darkness…all around me…swallowing me. It was endless…as endless as the sky. What was the sky? Could I remember? What was my name? Who was I? Who am I? Who would I have been? There was someone I needed to help…who was it? I am falling_

_Falling_

_Into darkness?_

_It's endless_

_How will I ever get back?_

_Do I want to?_

"_Sora!_" I felt arms wrap around me, pulling me out of the darkness. The light was flooding back into my vision and I was starting to remember…but the darkness was so heavy on my shoulders. I lifted an arm up in protest before I began to fall.

Then a hand gently wrapped around mine and pulled me back to the surface. And the lights exploded before my eyes.

I opened my eyes and gasped at the petite girl in my arms, her eyes squeezed tight.

"Kairi!" I exclaimed in wonder, my plan had worked. Her heart had been freed and now she was a person again! Instead of the ragdoll, the empty shell of a girl she had been.

"Well it's about time you showed up! I was beginning to think you would never come!" A transparent girl with a glowing halo around her stood a few feet back from where Kairi and I stood.

"You- I started to say, but she cut me off with a shake of her head. I lost my balance as a vibration shook the world.

"We have to go! The Heartless are coming…just like Riku said" The girl said sadly, glancing up at the hallway that lead to the Lift Stop. _Riku?_ Could Riku be ok?! The girl shook her head again, as if she could read my thoughts. Another earthquake shook the earth.

"We have to go!" Donald exclaimed. The transparent girl pushed the huge entrance door open and beckoned us forward, of course, I had a feeling no one else could see her… I grabbed Kairi's hand

"Let's get out of here!" She nodded, and we ran out together, leaving our best friend behind.

_****_

_Here goes nothing…and everything. _I summoned up my Keyblade and pointed it at the Keyhole. Goofy, Donald, and I were standing in front of the Keyhole that was erupting darkness, panting from defeating the Behemoth we had just fought. White stars gathered at the end of my Keyblade as I prepared to seal the door to Hollow Bastion. Then I noticed a transparent girl, standing to my right. I looked at her in shock, and noticed the Keyblade in her hands. She pointed it at the Keyhole, stars gathering on the end. Blue beams shot from our blades in unison and she winked at me. As the sound of a lock clicking was heard, she vanished.

_****_

I bent over, exhaustion racking my body. Riku was kneeling on the ground, in pain and on the verge of passing out. I held Way to the Dawn in my hand and lowered it so it was about even with Riku's head. Floating above and in front of us was Xemnas, clad in a black and white cloak, his orange eyes blazing with fury that we hadn't died in his last brutal attempt at our murder.

Riku looked up at me weakly, before placing his hand over mine on the hilt of his blade. Another more petite hand placed itself on his and I saw that girl…from so long ago.

"Good luck" she breathed and a blue beam gathered at the end of the blade the three of us shared. As the beam hit Xemnas square in the chest I could've sworn I saw Riku looking right at the girl, and the girl looking right back at him. She smiled before vanishing, just like always.

_*Kairi's Flashback*_

"Sora" I exclaimed in wonder, leaping to my feet and sprinting to my fallen friend. Light was consuming his being and just as my hands reached his he vanished, a flurry of lights spiraling upwards. Despair slammed into my chest. "No! He can't be gone" I whimpered, fighting back tears.

"Well it's about time you showed up. I was beginning to think you would never come!" I looked to my right to see a girl about my age with a golden halo surrounding and her entire body transparent, like a ghost

"Where's Sora?!" I cried and she shook her head.

"He gave up his heart to save you" I was on the verge of screaming when I heard a voice from behind me.

"No! I won't let you use me for this!" I spun around to see Riku, only he was transparent and glowing like that other girl was. He was standing between me and a man with dark skin and flaming orange eyes. Riku's teeth were gritted and I could tell he was straining to do whatever was happening. He looked at me and I saw pain in my friend's eyes.

"You have to go! The Heartless are coming!" He yelled and I felt someone grab my hand from behind. I turned my head to see the girl. She pulled on my hand gently, urging me towards the exit. Her eyes looked past me and I watched a silent conversation pass between her and Riku. She nodded as his strength failed him and he was sucked back into the man's form. Then the man faded back into a dark portal and was gone.

"Come on! We have to go!" She pulled on my hand again but I resisted.

"Sora! I can't leave him!" I protested but I felt another hand grab mine. I looked down to see a duck attempting to pull towards the exit. He and the dog-like creature standing nearby seemed oblivious to the transparent girl at my side.

A huge rumble shook the world and I stumbled sideways.

"Waaaaah! We have to go!" the duck squawked, and I finally turned and ran. Once we had made it to the entrance room the girl vanished.

"Wait here and Sora will come" She whispered before fading.

_****_

I stood by the shore, watching the sunset and missing my lost friend. I still couldn't believe I had forgotten him.

"Sora" The name tasted funny on my lips, but it felt sweetly familiar. I heard the sound of a portal opening to my left and I turned quickly to see a man with a black cloak and fiery red hair that was matched with piercing green eyes emerge from it.(A/N I don't know this scene word for word so I sort of just made it up)

"There you are Kairi!" The man said, and as if a cue, a horde of slim white figures appeared out of thin air.

"Stay away from me!" I yelled warningly, this man gave off a bad vibe. He took a step closer and held out his hand. I turned to run.

"But don't you want to see Sora?" I turned back

"You know where Sora is?" He was the boy I had forgotten and was now longing to see. Everyday more memories of him returned to me and it made me all the more eager to get to see him again. But from what I could remember he was off searching for Riku.

"That's right. And I can take you to him." I took a tentative step closer to him. "See we are friends right?" I reached my hand out nervously… and noticed the white creatures begin to close in on me. I quickly recoiled from his hand, looking for an escape route, but the creatures had completely surrounded me.

Then I heard a sound from behind me, like a high pitched whistle. I turned to see a dark portal floating on the edge of the beach, just a few feet behind me. I noticed a transparent girl that I remembered so well standing just behind the rim of the portal. She beckoned me urgently with her hand. I sprinted towards it, only to turn around halfway through my run.

"Well you're not acting very friendly!" I yelled at the fire-haired man, swiping my arm across my body, wishing I could've used that move against him with a blade. I turned back around and sprinted through the portal, letting darkness coat my vision.

_****_

I sprinted down the gray ramp that was leading me and this so-called Namine closer and closer to our freedom. After she had rescued me from my prison inside this giant castle in Who-Knows-Where, I had decided that I could trust her enough to let her lead.

Just as we were turning the corner a man in a black cloak like one my kidnapper wore (I had found out that his name was Axel) with long blue-gray hair and a red X-shaped scar across his face. His face held no emotion as he snapped his fingers, signaling three large creatures to appear out of thin air. They all possessed incredibly heavy looking hammer-like objects which they had all slung over their shoulders in an attempt to lessen the weight of the weapon.

"I believe your escape attempt ends here. Namine escort Kairi back to her cell" I gasped and waited for Namine to lead me back. If she didn't no doubt I would be taken back by force, and Namine would probably be thrown into prison along with me. To my surprise Namine clenched her hands into fists and raised them in front of her. I put the most fearsome expression I had onto my face before lifting my hands up too, balling them into fists.

I noticed the mysterious transparent girl had shown up beside me and had her fists up as well.

"I suppose this would be where I die of laughter" The man said emotionlessly. Namine stood up suddenly.

"You can take it from here, Riku" she said to a man who had just succeeded in destroying the last of the man's henchman. I looked at her then back at the mysterious figure.

"Riku?" The man pulled his blade out of the last remaining creature and it vanished from his hand. He was wearing the same cloak as Axel and X (my nickname for the man standing in front of me). _Where does everyone get these cloaks anyways?_

The man didn't pause a moment before charging X and slamming him into the wall of the castle. X smirked and pressed his hands flat against the wall. For a moment nothing happened…but then a black portal appeared on the wall and he fell back into it, a smirk on his lips and his eyes empty.

'Riku' made to follow him and I noticed that Namine had vanished. Riku took a step into the portal and I knew I had to act quickly.

"Wait Riku!" A yellow dog came out from nowhere and barked at him, forcing him to back up. I ran down to him and the ghost girl followed me. He looked past me and it seemed as if he was looking at her, even though I was almost positive I was the only one who could see her. He may have been able to though because she gave him a thumbs-up before vanishing. He looked back to me. I reached up and lowered his hood…

_*Riku's Flashback*_

_The truth will bring you pain…_The mysterious man's voice still echoed in my head. Pain was nothing I wasn't familiar to, and at that point, I was willing to suffer if it meant I could figure out _where the hell I was._

I was standing in a grand white hallway, and at the end of the hallway were a few white marble steps that gave way to a large door. I looked down at the card in my hand. A picture of Hollow Bastion was on it. Something told me this card, along with others I had yet to find, would be my guide during this 'Quest for the Truth'. I started towards the door, stopping after only a few halfhearted steps due to noticing a transparent girl sitting daintily on the steps, like she had just been waiting for me. When she saw me she smiled sweetly and stood up.

"Well it's about time you showed up. I was beginning to think you would never come!" The girl said, clasping her hands together happily. "I'm glad you chose to go after the truth instead of sleeping." I shrugged at the pretty petite blond girl.

"I could do better on sleeping locations" She laughed and descended from the steps. Watching her was like poetry in motion. Her body moved easily, in a flowing manner, fluidly. But, just as she reached the bottom step, her body flickered on and off like a light, and then she was gone.

"Well_ that_ was exciting, just as I was starting to get excited about this journey" I said with a sigh before heading up to the door. It was probably just my imagination, but it seemed like I passed through a small wave of heat as I stepped where the mysterious girl had moments before.

_****_

Curious, I came into another room that was entirely white, big surprise. In the center of them room was a blond girl in a small white dress and, for an insane moment, I thought she was the Ghost Girl I had seen at the beginning of my expedition through Castle Oblivion, but, once she turned to face me, I realized I had the wrong petite blond girl. There seemed to be a lot of those running around lately…

Of course my teen hormone-related thoughts ceased when I noticed a large white…pod…thing standing behind her. Inside of it, floating peacefully, as if asleep, was my best friend, the one, the only, everyone's favorite lazy Key bearer: Sora.

"Sora!" I exclaimed, before running up to him and this girl. (A/N again, I made this scene up to fit the story.) I stopped in front of the pod, surprised that my yelling hadn't aroused him. I turned on the girl.

"What did you do to him?!" I near-yelled, jabbing an accusing finger at her tiny frame.

"I was forced to re-write his memories, and now, while he sleeps in this chamber, I'll be able to put them back the right way. It will take some time, but I'll be able to do it." The girl said sadly. Her voice seemed so familiar…

"It was you. When I was lost in Zexion's illusion…it was your voice that brought me back!" I smiled, already beginning to feel trust wrap its limbs around me. She smiled

"Yes." Was all she said

"What's your name?"

"I'm Namine. There is something I can offer you though…" she trailed off

"What do you mean?"

"You are going to have to face the darkness in your heart very soon, and there's a chance you may lose to him. If you lose, Xehanort's Heartless will be able to control you again. If you want, I can lock him up in your heart, to be sure that he can never escape"

"Let me guess, along with my memories?" She gave a small smile and nodded

"Yes. You won't remember anything, but you'll never need to worry about him controlling you again." I sighed and turned to face Sora's sleeping figure.

"Sora was always the slacker, when I left to journey with the King I gave Sora one simple request: Take care of Kairi. And here he is taking a nap!" I chuckled "Unlike him, I can't afford to slack off. Keep your lock, I'll handle Xehanort's Heartless myself" Namine smiled again

"I was hoping you would say that…oh. There's someone waiting outside. I'll bet you're pretty eager to see her after her mysterious appearance on the ground floor. Go and find Xehanort's Heartless, she'll accompany you." With one fleeting glace at her and Sora, I turned and headed out.

As I was walking down a seemingly endless hallway, with my ultimate rival waiting at the end, the mysterious girl finally reappeared.

"Sorry about vanishing, I ran into some obstacles" She said mysteriously and I just shrugged.

"Lovely" was all I said

"You nervous?"

"Just a little"

"That much huh?" Damn this girl could read me like a book. A moment of silence stretched into minutes until, finally, I could sense who was up ahead. My step faltered for only a fraction of a second, but she noticed. She squeezed my hand comfortingly.

"I'll leave you to kick some ass then…good luck" She looked me in the eyes briefly before, who could very well have been the last person I ever saw, disappeared into thin air.

_****_

I walked down the pathway, an elated sense growing in my chest. The black cloak I had been given swished in rhythm to my steps as the King and I walked into the sunrise. Only one thing was nagging at my thoughts.

Then, of course, the girl appeared. She was, ironically, also wearing a black cloak that matched mine.

"Boy they just hand these out huh?" She asked, rubbing a piece of the material off my sleeve between her fingers.

"Pretty much" I agreed with a small nod, realizing the King couldn't see her and not wanting him to think I had gone crazy.

"So where are we going?"

"To help Sora wake up." I replied without thinking

"Well thanks for narrowing it down" She said sarcastically, rolling her blue eyes while I suppressed a laugh. As the sun's light crept over the hills she squinted and her step faltered.

"You may be able to walk into the light with ease but I'm still working on it" She said before vanishing again.

_****_

(A/N this would probably be set sometime while Sora's asleep. I haven't played 358/2 Days yet so I don't know if this scene could happen or not…oh well in this story it can. Just telling you the general time frame)

The islands were back, but I still couldn't go home. I was just here tonight, for a few hours, to contemplate everything. My eyes were hidden by a midnight black blindfold, causing the sound of the crashing waves to become all consuming. I didn't even jump in surprise when I sensed a figure near me. Of course, it took her speaking for me to be able to recognize her.

"So this is your home?" The nameless blonde girl asked. I nodded. "It's a nice place…I like it."

"I wish I could stay…but there are just too many problems at the moment" I said with a heavy sigh. She sat down on the crooked tree trunk beside me, and a moment later I felt a light pressure in my hair.

"So this is your new look? A blindfold?" She gently twisted one end of the cloth around her fingers and for a moment I thought she was going to pull it off. Her grip relaxed and I spoke.

"Its necessary" Was the only explanation I offered.

"Of course it is" She replied calmly, letting the end of the blindfold slip through her fingers. After a clam moment of silence she repeated her earlier phrase

"It's a nice place"

"You should come and visit some time."

"Hmmm maybe I will"

_*Lauren*_

It seemed like everyone opened their eyes at once, and as a combined figure their eyes found mine, and the gasps of astonishment rang out in the same second.

**What are they some freaking hybrids of synchronized swimmers or something?!**

_Normally I would defend them but really what the hell was that? It's as if they just remembered some big dramatic piece of their lives._

**Crazy. I know just as well as you do that it's a little dramatic piece of their lives. Not a big piece.**

_Wow, thanks._

Everyone had already engaged in detailed descriptions of what they had remembered with their neighbor and, not being too fond of all the noise, I slipped off to my room. Naturally I wasn't allowed a moment of peace because when I was about five feet from my room I sensed someone else's presence behind me.

I stepped into my room and was closely followed by none other than my tall, handsome, and arrogant, boyfriend whom I cared so deeply for. _Yeeeah that's how I would describe it. _I was in for a surprise though from this certain boyfriend of mine.

As soon as the door shut Riku wrapped his arms around my waist, picked me up, and spun me around, smiling like an overjoyed maniac.

"It was you! All those times it was you!" I quickly decided that I had never seen him so happy. He hugged me close to him tightly. "I knew you were special. You helped me more than you could imagine." He whispered to me softly, his arms making it so I couldn't possibly hope to escape, not that I wanted to.

"It was nothing. I helped out everyone remember?" I pointed out, not quite sure if this joyful Riku was cute, adorable, or just plain scary. Riku chuckled to himself, parting the space between us enough so he could brush a strand of blond hair from my face. I knew immediately he had something planned, I just hadn't found out what yet.

"How's your night been?" He asked me conversationally, one hand still wrapped around my waist, the other stroking my hair with a hypnotizing softness.

"Alright" I said hesitantly, wondering if I should plan on stabbing him through with my blade or just wing it if things went downhill. Riku stopped stroking my hair and he got this look like he was pondering my response very deeply. As he 'pondered' the hand that had been pleasing my hair slipping down to the middle of my back. After a moment Riku's eyes returned to mine and it took me a moment to notice his face getting closer. As our lips gently crashed against one another's I realized something-_my day had just gotten one hell of a lot better._

**Awe I must admit I'm a sucker for endings like that! Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter's lengthiness and if I can I'll try to get the next chapter out before the year is over. Now for the special note I promised! **

**I just want to thank everyone for being there and reading this story. This started out as a small story with less than ten chapters and even fewer reviews but its slowly grown to something that makes me smile whenever I get online, because almost always there's someone who saw this story and favorited, or reviewed, or whatever. Every time the sheer number of people who simply LOOKED at this story made me want to scream thank you one million times. It's been a great year and I just want to thank everyone who took a moment to check out some girl's first story. Thank you all and have a Great Holiday and a Very Happy New Years!**


	26. The Verdict

**Guess who's back...It's me! XD sorry for taking so incredibly long with this chapter but now that school's back in I've been mega busy and am having trouble finding the time to write this stuff up! Don't worry though-I'm definitely **_**not**_** getting bored with the story! Oh and for all you action lovers there's some fighting coming up soon! Along with a little tragedy! Alright now that I've given my little hint away go read the chapter!**

_*Lauren*_

_Come on body, time to wake up…eyes that means open…why is this not working?_

Ok so honestly- I just didn't feel like waking up. The past few days had contained me pouring out just about every fact of knowledge I contained along with the unpleasantness of my childhood, and I had also caused everyone to remember that I had been saving their asses for much longer than they thought.

**I swear if we don't get an appreciation cake I'm killing them all.**

_You don't even eat so why would you care?_

**Hell I just want an excuse to kill Silver Haired Bastard. Especially after what happened last night…**

_What happened last night?_

**You don't remember?**

_Wait you don't mean…?!_

_**NO! **_**Ugh definitely **_**not!**_

_Oh thank god. But really-what happened last night? I remember kissing Riku and him picking me up but after that it's just a fog._

**Ask. Your damn. Boyfriend.**

_Did you just call him my boyfriend?! I must be dreaming._

**Well Ms. Smarty Pants 'Silver Haired Bastard' wouldn't really make sense in that sentence.**

_I have a 6__th__ grade level education leave me alone!_

**So. Do. I.**

_Shit that's true…well I'm suffering from memory loss! Wait now why aren't you?_

**I didn't forget because its horribleness is permanently seared into my brain. And you don't even remember it. I hate you.**

_That's nice._

Upon receiving silence from my ever moody opposite half I finally summoned all my strength and determination _and_…opened my eye_s _and yawned. Then I noticed the muscular arm draped over my stomach and the soft tickle of breath hitting my neck. Not wanting to disturb You-Know-Who (And just so we are clear on this I do NOT mean Voldemort) I reached my right hand out away from my face and discovered silky smooth hair which was resting against the smooth cheek of a peacefully sleeping teenage boy. I smiled in spite of my overall confusion. I had stumbled across the guy when he was asleep and I was able to paint a fairly accurate picture in my mind of how adorable he was looking right then. One word for you-_Awww_

I rolled over, careful not to disturb the arm that was resting on my figure, so I could look at Riku face to unconscious face. He looked so peaceful and carefree. I probably could've stayed there all day if the stalkerishness of my staring at my sleeping boyfriend wasn't echoing through my mind.

I pondered for a moment about the appropriate way to wake him up, my ideas including fire, duct tape, swords, and scissors. Finally I decided on the perfect idea, considering the calm and quiet environment.

I gently pressed my lips against his and weaved my right hand into his gorgeous silver hair (hey-the mood was just too peaceful to destroy). His lips were warm and soft against mine, and I had to admit I enjoyed it, even if _someone_ was still asleep.

That certain someone pulled away with a small intake of breath after a moment, his aquamarine orbs blinking at me and his lips slightly parted in surprise. I smiled

"Morning Boyfriend" Riku smiled and the arm that was wrapped around me pulled me closer to his figure and I felt his hand place itself in between my shoulder blades.

"You need to wake me up like that more often" Riku whispered to me, our faces being only inches apart whispering was all that was really needed. I gave him a small smile and winked

"I'll see what I can do" And then the distance between our faces vanished as Riku pulled me in for my second kiss that morning. I was beginning to notice how familiar he was becoming to me, the shape of his body and the feel of his lips against mine. It made me feel safe and I automatically moved in closer, tilting my head to the side slightly so I could kiss him better. In return he tightened his hold on me, preventing me from being able to move back. _Like I cared._ I smiled against his lips and moved my hand to the back of his neck, massaging it while he kissed me. Riku moved his lips against mine, deepening our kiss. For the briefest of moments our tongues brushed against each others and I jumped back in surprise, my eyes wide as they gazed into his.

Riku smirked and brushed my cheek with his thumb.

"You're really cute you know that?" He asked me before kissing my forehead and sliding out of the bed.

"H-hey Riku!" My shirtless boyfriend turned.

"Yes?"

"How did you end up in my bed?" _Well that was an…interesting question. _Riku laughed at my question before coming back to sit on the edge of my bed.

"This is _my_ bed silly, and don't you remember?"_ Ummmm…_ Riku raised an eyebrow at me

"You don't, do you?" I shook my head and he sighed "That's a shame. Last night was…" He smiled dreamily.

"Are you going to wipe that high look off your face long enough to tell me what happened or not?!" I snapped, immediately wanting to punch myself in the face when I saw hurt flash through Riku's eyes. Riku was definitely a sensitive guy, believe it or not.

"I'm sorry Riku. I didn't mean that. It's just that I'm confused and Fury's giving me a hard time about what happened and I can't even remember." I explained. Alarm manifested Riku's face…then he blushed…badly.

"F-Fury remembers?!" He backed away from me; like he was afraid I might bite. Which I wouldn't! Not Riku at least…

"Riku what happened?" I repeated, waiting for an answer. Eventually Riku pulled himself together.

"We made out" _We_ _WHAT?!_

"Oh…" Riku smiled

"Relax it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Last night when I kissed you I picked you up and we made out on my bed…which is how you ended up here." I responded by falling backwards into Riku's sheets and burying myself in them, vowing to never come out.

Yeah yeah yeah I know-I was sixteen. This shouldn't be a big deal, Riku really does seem to care about me, and I can trust him, blah blah blah. But really- I had about…zero guy experience. I didn't flirt with guys in elementary school because they had cooties. In 6th grade guys were afraid of me because I weighed air and saw hundreds of pounds of fat leaking off my body in the mirror. Maybe I would've gotten better if my life had gone on normally, without the Heartless destroying it. The problem with being a kid is that you don't think about the future. What would've happened in college? Would I have pulled myself together? Probably not.

Erika and I made a blood pact to help each other be strong, because outlasting the pain made us the best. We killed each other, slowly. We were the best of friends but if the other tried to run away we would drag them back down into the pit because _we were afraid to be alone._

"_Lauren? Lauren!"_

"Huh?" I snapped back to reality and came face to face with a concerned Riku.

"Are you alright?" then I noticed I was had my back in the sheets and Riku…was hovering over me… Riku bent down so that are faces were inches apart, something that would've been difficult to hold steady during, but Riku was above average in the strength area, so he managed fine.

"Are you alright?" he repeated, looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine" I breathed, images of the past flooding back into my mind. Once I had died a lot of memories from before had vanished. I didn't know for sure my age, or even my birthday. I couldn't remember my middle or last name, or my old address. I didn't even remember my parent's names. Now stuff was flooding back to me. Erika and I, 4th grade, in Hawaii posing for the camera in lame two pieces that we used to think were cool, us with our faces smeared with mud, pretending to track down a tiger in her backyard, us with our mouths overflowing with sour skittles at one of our Friday Night sleepovers, because we wanting to see who could eat the most at once without making a face. Erika was in every one of my newly returned memories, because she was the only one who was actually around. I replayed the memories, never wanting to let them go.

"Lauren" Riku's voice was tight with distress and it pulled me from my thoughts. My eyes focused back on his and I lifted up a hand to brush his silver bangs from his face.

"I'm ok Riku. I just got some of my old memories back." Suddenly overcome with happiness, I wrapped my arms around Riku's neck and pulled him down until our lips touched, wanting his closeness. Riku obliged almost immediately, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me deeper into the kiss.

After a minute he drew back, his breathing slightly more desperate than before, which was probably true for me too.

"What do you mean you got some of your old memories back?" He asked me, tilting his head to the side just barely, an adorable habit he did when he was confused. I explained to him how my death had caused some of my memories to disappear and how some of them had suddenly just come back.

"Well if my kissing you helps you get some of your lost memories back I should probably…" He trailed off and moved his mouth closer to mine. I shook my head and pressed my index finger to his lips, pushing his face back gently.

"Riku it's…" I glanced over his shoulder "almost twelve o' clock! We should head down to where everyone else is. We need to figure out what we are going to do about…the whole Demon thing." Riku nodded seriously before getting off of me and pulling a random shirt on over his head.

I ran into the bathroom and got ready before heading back into our room where Riku was waiting. I grabbed his hand and we headed down the hallway to the control room.

_*Fury*_

Riku and I…err _Lauren_, sat down next to each other, their hands still intertwined. _Ok __**yuck! **_This was torturing me- her and Silver Haired Bastard being all romantic and shit.

I pulled myself out of Lauren's body, spinning on the deadly sharp heel of my left Goth boot and placed my hands on my hips, glaring at the two of them. Riku had just called everyone down to the control room via the intercom so for the time being the three of us had the room to ourselves.

"Am I _ever_ going to be able to combine with my opposite half and_ not_ be felt up by Mr. Pervert over here?!"

"He does not do that!" Lauren said angrily, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. I waved my hand dismissively

"You know what I mean. Either way he _your _boyfriend, _not_ mine!"

"Thank god for that" Riku remarked and I glared down at him.

"Look Lover Boy, you can harass my other half as much as you want. Just. Don't. Do. It. When. I'm. Around." I said, punctuating each word by pushing my index finger further into his chest. Once I was done I used the Dark Being's super human strength and pushed my index finger into him so hard he fell out of his chair. I smirked

"My work here is done" I said before taking my unofficial seat on the control panel, careful not to sit on anything important. Riku glared at me, still lying on the ground with his head tilted back in order to see me. I smiled and waved at him, enjoying seeing him shudder. Yes, creatures like me aren't meant to smile, yes it was creepy, and yes- I enjoyed doing it just to give other people goose bumps.

Just a minute after taking my seat the rest of the Light Crew, as I had named them, poured into the room, all taking seats at the table that was placed in the center of the control room. If there was an emergency though the table would meld into the ground and seven chairs would come out of the ship's floor.

As Kairi and Selphie passed Riku and Lauren I saw them give each other these 'Awww that's so cute!' looks, making me want to barf.

"Alright everyone, we all know why we are here" Sora said as he took his spot at the front of the table, deepening his voice and trying to act all professional. Selphie raised her hand questioningly, earning the gaze of everyone. She blushed slightly

"Uhm I 'm not sure why we are here…" She trailed off. Sora opened his mouth…paused…and got that confused look he expressed so well. _Sigh, must I do everything?_

"We are here to decide on whether or not all of you want to risk your lives along with me and Lauren when we face the Demons." I said pleasantly, well as pleasantly as a being such as I could manage.

"I'm still a little unclear on _why_ the Demons are even after you and Lauren actually." Tidus said to me, while a few other members of the table nodded their agreement.

"Ok so I am the most powerful Dark Being in existence. The Demon Lord or whatever you want to call him recognized this immediately. If a Dark Being's other half, or Light Being, loses their heart it is given to the Dark Being, giving them the powers that, well, come with a heart. The Demon Lord wanted to use me to help him take over this realm. But part of the plan meant giving me a heart. I don't _want_ a heart, and I _definitely_ don't bow down to someone else. So I left. I found Lauren and when she died, instead of taking her heart I sort of, held onto it until she came back to life."

"Which happened how?" Riku asked me. I shrugged

"Beats me. So the Demon Lord is pissed at me for betraying him and now he wants to kill me and Lauren. So anyone coming with us is going to be risking their lives as well"

"Soooo I guess now we…?" The Ultimate Leader Sora trailed off uncertainly. Riku stood up

"Now we vote I guess. It's all of us or none of us right?" He got cheers from five of the people, him and Lauren being the only one not cheering. Riku waved his hand at Sora

"Take it away Oh Glorious Captain" he said sarcastically. Sora nodded at him and before looking at everyone.

"I think we should help her. We came with her to help with the Heartless, and know we are going to take care of the Demons too!" Sora declared before sitting down. _Smart choice 0, stupid choice 1._

Kairi, who was on his right, voted yes too. Wakka and Tidus both said no, while Selphie gave an energetic _yes_. Riku voted yes, duh, keeping his arm around Lauren while he declared it. Lauren was the last to vote, and since we were both in agreement there was no reason for us both to vote.

"I vote no." Lauren said, her voice unwavering. Everyone at the table gasped in unison, which made even Lauren roll her eyes.

"I'm not talking about facing two or three Demons like we saw at Beast's Castle! I'm talking hundreds of blood thirsty monsters bent on revenge, lead by an awful leader who wanted to kill me before he even knew my name. He ripped a hole in the very universe just to get here, and will stop at nothing to kill me and anyone who defends me. I'm going to die. I don't fear death and approach it willingly. But I'm _not _going to let all of you sacrifice your lives as well." Immediately people stood up and started yelling. Lauren tried to clam them down, but let's face it, she just didn't have what I had. AKA fangs, wings, red eyes, and a nasty attitude.

"_Shut the fuck up or I'm going to kill every last one of you!"_ I shouted, my voice echoing through the whole freaking ship. Everyone became silent immediately and sat down, all except Lauren and I.

"You guys have all been very good friends, but I don't want to be responsible for your deaths." Lauren said sadly

"Who ever said we were gonna die?! I don't know about anyone else but I don't remember agreeing to die before I got my driver's license!" Riku said, half joking and half serious.

"And plus I'm the Keyblade Master…err _one_ of the Keyblade Masters. I'm coming and you can't stop me!" Sora declared.

"Ok listen! You three can come because you have experience with fighting the dark" Lauren said, pointing to Sora, Riku, and Kairi. "You three need to go home" Lauren pointed to Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus. Right away the three of them jumped up and began yelling and screaming.

"Ok enough!" I shouted, leaping up from my spot on the control panel once again. "If you guys want to kill yourselves _fine_! Come along! But you are definitely _not_ facing the Demons with retarded weapons like that! Jump ropes and kick balls belong on a playground for a reason! And Tidus giving that thing a hilt doesn't make that stupid stick a sword. Now we are going to Radiant Garden, you three will be getting _actual weapons_, and then we will all go die!" I yelled before storming down the hallway. _God those people are all such idiots._

_*Sora*_

"Lauren is your other half PMSing?" Riku asked, being completely serious

"I have no clue when it comes to her." Lauren said, shaking her head. While the two of them discussed different possibilities for Fury's horrible rage I went up to the control panel and entered in the coordinates for Radiant Garden.

"We should be there in the morning! I suggest we all take it easy the rest of today" I told everyone. They all nodded and went their separate ways. I stood by what I had said before; agreeing to help Lauren and all, but the repeated promises of death were making me nervous.

"Sora what have we gotten ourselves into?" Riku asked me quietly. I shook my head

"I have no idea. I do know one thing though."

"And what's that?"

"Your girlfriend is almost as psycho as you are Riku."

"Yeah she…_HEY_!"

**I love ending the chapter with a bit of humor. Ok so this chapter wasn't all that long- only seven pages. But the next one is going to be very long! Which means it could take a bit longer to write. I won't do a filler chapter though! They will just show up at Radiant Garden. If there is anyone you want to see more of in the chapters or something you would like me to add don't hesitate to put it in a review or PM me! As always I will request reviews, but this week the number of reviews may just speed up my typing of the next chapter! You guys are the best and I'll seeya next time!**


	27. Murder Devices,Demons,and Trendy Clothes

**Oh my god could it be?! After a million, trillion years (two months) is there really a new chapter?! Why yes there is! And I am so soooo super sorry about taking so long! I honestly don't even know why it did take so long. I just…never got around to it I guess. Over my little break though I sort of got all my ideas together about the rest of this story (and the sequel : D) and I've even revised my writing style, trying to make my story sound a bit more story-ish and interesting. Well I'm sorry again for the wait and hope everyone enjoys the chapter! (As I promised back at the end of the last chapter it is longer than usual!)**

***Oh and a little foreshadow/reminder: When Lauren said 'Demons devour people's hearts' it wasn't an exaggeration…ok go read!**

_*Selphie*_

_Today's the big day! Today we get to go! God I've been waiting two whole days for this! That's practically my whole life!!_

I raced down the hallway of the gummi ship, an excited buzz of energy. The moment my eyes had first opened that morning I had jumped out of bed and quickly gotten ready before heading out of Kairi and my room, not even bothering to check the time. Finally I reached my destination, the bright blue post-it note with a threat written in large handwriting still faithfully clinging to the door way. The note said:

_Lauren (and Riku's) Room. Enter and I'll send my Dark Being on you._

I didn't even pause a moment before shoving the door open, so hard that it hit the wall to its right with a loud _bang!_ as it made the journey its hinges designed.

_*Riku*_

_Aaahh lazy mornings where there's nothing better to do but lie in bed and do nothing. Beautiful._

I let out a sigh of pleasure, stretching out my right arm which was draped over my girlfriend's waist. Last night we had been watching movies in her bed and had both fallen asleep at some point during The Ugly Truth…I couldn't quite remember when though. Oh well

Lauren shifted slightly before groaning and blinking awake. She turned her gaze so right eye was on me…before face planting back into her pillow.

"Does dating you mean I need to get used to stuff like this?" She asked tiredly, stifling another yawn.

"Only if you want to, if not I'll leave you alone." _Heh not likely_

Lauren grabbed my arm that was around her waist, her fingers trailing down it to where my fingers ran out of waist and were poised in mid-air. She gently pulled on my hand, causing my grasp on her to be tighter.

"Good night boyfriend" was all she said before closing her eyes and becoming still. _Needless to say I am a very happy camper at the moment._

I closed my eyes to and laid my head back down on the pillow just above hers, slowly fading back into dreamland…

"_BANG!" _ The door was suddenly shoved open with such force it just about ripped the door from its hinges. Lauren and I both jumped a foot in the air, Lauren getting the worst of it because once gravity took over she wasn't entirely on the bed anymore…she landed uncomfortably on the floor of our room.

"I'm ready to go shopping for my weapon!" Selphie chirped happily, completely unaware of what she had just interrupted. After a moment of silence she blinked in confusion at Lauren. "What are you doing on the ground silly?" She asked her, tilting her head to the side slightly, completely perplexed by the situation.

"What am I…_What am I doing on the ground?!_" Lauren practically shrieked. _Oh boy, here come the fireworks…or should I say raging fires of doom._

"I'm on the ground because you came bursting into my room at the ungodly hour of five in the morning! Nobody with any common sense is even awake yet! Including the shop owners! So I don't care how ready you are-_we are not leaving for another four hours!_" Lauren concluded her speech by pointing a finger at Selphie and glaring. I held my breath, waiting for the chocolate haired girl to start screaming and crying, but she didn't. She just smiled.

'Sorry for interrupting you and Riku's…_time_" she winked coyly and skipped out of our room and down the hall.

"I don't like the way she said time" Lauren said immediately after Selphie left, picking herself up off the ground and flopping back into her own bed.

"Me neither, but it doesn't matter. Let's just go to sleep, you can chaperone the fieldtrip for crazy people _after _you've had a good nights rest." I pulled the blanket over her before retiring to my own bed for the remainder for the night.

_*Lauren*_

I yawned and stretched luxuriously as I walked down the hall. Selphie was lucky that I had forced myself to calm down (even if it had only been for the sake of getting more sleep) otherwise she would probably be dead right now. I strode into the kitchen expecting Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie all ready to go. I got what I expected…and then some. There was also Namine, Kairi, Roxas, and my very own boyfriend standing there along with the trio.

"Uhm…something tells me you guys aren't interested in new weapons…" I said, forever the public speaker, gesturing to Riku & Co.

"Well_ duh_." My boyfriend said in a very un-boyish way.

"Well then what are you guys doing here…_duh_?" I couldn't resist mocking him, even if my sentence made no sense. The corners of Riku's mouth twitched up, which was like the biggest smile humanely possible when your in RikuLand and it isn't eleven in the morning yet (he ain't no morning person let me tell ya that).

"Namine and Kairi decided that our giant mobile mansion could use some remodeling, and that includes new furniture worth millions of munny. But no problem, we should just waste our money on couches and new clothes instead of…oh I don't know…_stuff that may actually help us while on the run from Demons?!_" Riku exploded

"Ok can I get the story from someone who is actually _for_ this?" _Mental note to self: consider giving your boyfriend a nice massage after today, he looks like he needs it…like he __**really**__ needs it._

"Namine and I figured that if we are going to be living in this ship for a while- She put her hand up to prevent me from going off on another 'death is coming we can't escape it' speech. "_so_ we figured it would be nice if this place was a bit…homier."

"Ok well I guess that makes sense, just be sure you save enough money for potions and armor and all that joyous stuff…wait, why are Riku and Roxas coming?" Sure they could pick out matching clothes on their own, which was better than the average male teenager, but that didn't make them future fashion designers or anything.

"Because someone has to carry all the heavy stuff back to the ship" Namine chimed with a light laugh. Both boys groaned and slouched over. Tidus stuck his tongue out at them and Wakka followed suit by pointing and laughing.

"Don't follow his example, Wakka. You just might die young" Roxas whispered evilly before following the girls and Riku down the ramp that led into Radiant Garden.

"Alright well guess it's our turn! Let's go get you guys some weapons"

_****_

Normally I wouldn't have bothered to fight the small clusters of Heartless that appeared on our way the main square of the town, but since Namine and Kairi were off spending money like spoiled twins I figured the extra fifty-three munny could be appreciated.

Once we finally made it to the area where all the excitement was, I made a beeline for no, not the shiny sparkling weapons store that was buh-rand new, but for the older store, that was looking like it had seen better days (which it had, trust me).

Still eyeing the other weapon store, DI trio number two (which was what I liked to call them) following behind me like hesitant little kids, not wanting to be left alone, but not knowing if they wanted to come along either. (A/N DI=Destiny Islands, and DI trio number one would be Kairi, Sora, and Riku) When I got to the front desk of the store an old man greeted me, smiling like an old friend.

"Hello Sam, I need three new weapons for these guys" I gestured with my head t the three behind me who I could hear were tinkering with something that could probably maim them.

Sam sighed, "The young never do bother with formalities do they?"

"Not a chance, we got places to be and Demons to kill" Sam raised an eyebrow

"You're still having a Demon problem?"

"If anything it's worse."

"Oh dear, are you still using the sai's I gave you?" I summoned up one half of the Keyblade in each hand in response and showed the blades to him. He smiled

"I figured you would eventually give up and start using those, after all-a Keyblade Master is just that: A Keyblade master. Not a master of any other weapon."

"I wish you had told me that sooner" I said with a smile

"It's unlike you to be traveling with anyone…let alone…people like those three." I gave a small smile

"Well things have changed…" And, as quickly as I could, I explained my predicament to him.

_*Namine*_

Kairi and I ran through the clothing and furniture stores like two little kids in an endless chain of candy stores. Riku and Roxas lagged behind, groaning almost every twenty seconds or so, leaning forwards slightly from the weight of the ten or more bags they were carrying.

"Come on you girls! Just a few more stops and then we can go back to the gummi ship" Kairi coached, stomping her foot impatiently. The boys gave tired smiles and the prospect of being able to stop soon and picked up their pace a bit. Kairi smiled, spun on her heel, and began walking with me to the next store.

"Yeah once we drop off all this stuff at the gummi ship we can come back out and you guys can haul furniture!" I said with a happy clap. I heard both boys groan simultaneously and me and Kairi high-fived. We passed yet another alleyway, probably the forth or fifth one, but this time I thought I saw a figure in the shadows. I stopped, having already passed by, and backed up. Nope, no one. _Hmmm…._

_*Lauren*_

"Well that's quite the predicament you have there. I'm sure you'll be ok though" Sam said in response to my tale, responding with calmness only old people had. "I'm sure you have places to be so I'll hurry up and try to find weapons for your friends that will hurt their enemies more than themselves." He said with a wheezy laugh.

"Thank you"

"Oh it's no problem helping out an old friend" He said before heading off to do Mission Impossible. I smiled to myself, thinking of when I had first met him, back when Radiant Garden was Hallow Bastion, and things were dangerous for everyone…

_*Flashback*_

_I walked through the icy rain, my footsteps aggravating the puddles that lay on the streets. The rim of my hood was steadily dripping with the cold rain that fell from above. Zack had told me that the Keyblade was my strongest weapon and that I should always use it…_

**Yeah but now Zack's dead, so who cares what he thought.**

_I remained silent, walking steadily to my destination. This place was dangerous, and dangerous places were always the best if you were looking for something sharp, wickedly curved, and deadly._

_I arrived at the rundown weapons store about five minutes later. I suppressed a chill from the cold and unforgiving rain before heading in. _

_The store was barely lit, probably because it was so late. Hell, the person who worked here may be sleeping for all I knew. But once I got to the front desk a man stepped up to the other side of the wood. An old man, probably in his sixties, with a balding head of white hair and a silvery-gray beard. He smiled at me, wrinkles forming around blue eyes._

"_And how can I help a little lady such as yourself?" Just so that he knew I meant business, I brought forth red eyes before pulling my hood down. _

"_I need a weapon" Was my only explanation, and I laid down two hundred munny on the table. "That's all I have, so take it or leave it" The old man sighed and for a minute I thought he was going to tell me to leave._

"_You don't choose a weapon, because a weapon chooses you."_

"_What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"_

"_Pick something out that catches your eye, and then bring it to me." Rolling my scarlet red eyes I backed away from the desk and weaved through the rows of killing devices. _

_Scythes, sai's, swords, a large variety of weapons lay before me. Finally I decided on a pair of sai's, the tips lethal, the actual weapon made of silver, the handle black leather, and each of them holding a red gem at the end of the hilt. The weapon possessed a faint sense of calling, and that's what made me pick them up._

"_I would like these" I said, putting them gently on the table._

"_But the question is whether or not they want you." He said to me, completely serious._

"_Look if you aren't going to give them to me I'll just go-_

"_Take them. There's a small renegade of Heartless just outside the town. If you feel comfortable fighting with those weapons, don't come back."_

"_What if I'm not comfortable fighting with them?"_

"_Then the Heartless will tear you to shreds" I snatched up the weapons and headed for the door, leaving the munny on the table along with the old man._

"_I highly doubt that" I muttered_

"_So do I." He said, "My name is Sam by the way, and best of luck to you, Keyblade Master"_

_I stepped out of the store and back into the cold rain that poured from the sky like teardrops…crying for the loss of a warrior._

_*End Flashback*_

"I don't know how you did it Sam. You actually got these three goofballs real weapons" I admired his work, grinning.

Selphie had a long sword, more of a long-distance weapon like her jump rope had been. Wakka had two sai's along with two plate-like things with razor sharp edges that could surely slice through a Heartless. _Or Demon. _Tidus had a wickedly sharp scythe that was longer for far-reach attacks and a scabbard on his shoulder holding a traditional silver bladed, obsidian hilted sword.

"Be sure to practice every day with these until you get used to them!" Sam called out as they left the store.

"Whatever happened to 'the weapon picks you'?" I asked him, my hands on my hips

"That was only for you my dear. Now go safely, and guide those souls safely" He said kindly. I reached in my pocket to pull out munny for the weapons.

"It's not necessary, just consider this a gift."

"Thank you." I said before heading out after the three. I remembered the night I had met him, how I never came back, and how my sai's were securely in a small part of my jacket, covered, and waiting for the day they would pierce the supernatural skin of my killer.

_****_

On the way back to the ship I ran into Riku…literally.

"Ok guys for the last time-no swinging around your weapons until we are back on the gummi ship in the training room! You'll take out an eye…or a face." Selphie laughed giddily

"Oh calm down we know what we're do-whoa!" Just then Selphie lost her grip on her sword and it went careening straight at me. Without blinking I twisted my arm so my fingertips were facing the ground and caught it by its hilt, the blade about 3 seconds from hitting my face. I flipped the sword over so the hilt was facing her and the sword tip was aimed at my gut.

"You were saying?" Selphie laughed nervously before taking the sword back, holding it tightly. I nodded, _that's better._ I turned my attention away from Selphie and ran straight into Riku's back.

"Whoa!"

"Hey watch it!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Oh…heheh hey Lauren…"

"You better apologize!"

"Can I run away instead?"

"No!" _Aaahh young relationships._

"Riku I can't hold this up…by myself" Roxas grunted, struggling to keep a loveseat above the ground.

"Oh shit sorry Roxas!" Riku quickly turned around and grabbed the other end of the loveseat.

"Why exactly are you and Roxas hauling furniture?" Tidus asked, skeptical

"Because Kairi and her Nobody are evil" Riku said, his eyes alight with a burning flame of anger.

_He looks really hot right now_

**If I was my own person I'd be decapitating myself right now. How do you find Silver Haired Bastard's anger attractive? **

_It's so passionate…_

**Ok I'm not talking to you anymore**

"Oh hey Kairi!"

"Hey Selphie!"

"Hey Namine"

"Hey Kairi"

"Hey Tidus"

"Hey Kairi"

"Hey Wakka!"

"Hey Selphie"

"Oh can we just get on with it?!" Riku groaned, his legs shaking and his chest pressed against the chair in an effort to keep it up. "Roxas it doesn't feel like you're even holding this up!"

"That's because I'm not" Roxas said, coming up behind him

"Oh dammit Roxas help me!"

"Do you need an ambulance?"

"_Roxas! You're going to need an ambulance here in a second!"_ I laughed, turning around to see if anyone was staring, and realized I was facing an alleyway, not helpful. I just started to turn back when I saw someone…

"Huh?" I peered down in the alley as the figure stepped out of the shadows…_Stardust._ She grinned and winked at me before turning in the opposite direction and started running.

"_Hey!_" I sprinted after her, my blades materializing in my hands.

"Hey Lauren come back!" Riku yelled, and, if I had turned around, I would've seen him dropping the chair on top of Roxas and chasing after me. But I wasn't paying attention. My blood was flowing and adrenaline was pumping itself into my veins, combined with Fury's venom, and a bone-deep hatred for Demons. I was beyond listening now. I was out for Stardust's blood.

_*Riku*_

_I took off after Lauren, not sure why she was running or why I was even bothering to chase her. I guess I just wanted to be sure she was ok…_

I summoned my blade after noticing hers in both her hands. I sprinted down the dirty alley, trying to avoid exiled trash bags that littered the already-narrowed sides of the alleyway, making it even harder to run. Up ahead of Lauren I saw someone with black hair streaming out behind them, running with unnatural grace, making a sound that I could've sworn was laughter.

A sharp turn came up out of nowhere, catching me by surprise. _All these walls look the same._ I gritted my teeth when I saw a giant chain-link fence part of the way down the section of the alley. _Dead end. _The girl Lauren was chasing jumped over the twelve-foot fence with ease, and that's when I realized she wasn't a girl at all;_ she was a Demon._ I snarled between my teeth, slowing down my pace slightly as I neared the fence and Lauren.

Of course my girlfriend was never one to give up easily. She leaped into the air and placed her feet against the brick wall to her left, pushing of it in an upwards-diagonal direction. She flipped in mid-air and pressed her feet against the opposite wall, repeating the motions. She pushed off in the same way, but this time she aimed at the fence. She spun around in the air as she traveled closer to the metal wall, and, arching her back just enough to pass over the rusty tips, back flipped over the fence.

I picked up my pace immediately, not wanting to be left behind. I sprinted towards an abandoned silver trashcan and jumped up, letting my feet rest on the trashcan for a fraction of a second before pushing off of it with as much lower body strength as I could muster…which was a pretty damn good amount. I started to slow down just a few inches from the fence and, in a motion which I expected looked like poetry in its moving stages, weaved my fingers loosely into the chain mesh and heaved my feet over my arms, flipping over the fence and landing hard on the ground after it, continuing to chase after Lauren. _Oh yeah, I was good._

_*Lauren*_

_Run_

**Faster!**

_Can't let her_

**She's getting away!**

Fury and my thoughts mirrored each other's with a night and day sort of perfection. My radiant determination with her pessimism supported by demands seeping into it. I wasn't going to let Stardust get away…I couldn't break my promise that I had made to everyone the day I truly accepted the Keyblade…the day I was resurrected.

**There's no time for feeling nostalgic! Get your ass moving!**

Grunting, I sped up more still, hearing Riku's heavier steps a few meters behind mine, thanks to my heightened senses courtesy of Fury. I turned the corner and came to a fork in the alleyway, one way leading right, the other straight ahead. I stopped so quickly I heard Riku having to skid on the ground to keep from hitting me. He stopped a few inches short of careening into my back.

"Where…did she…go?" Riku panted, his breath angled down, so from what I could tell his hands were on his knees and he was bending over.

"You're really going to let your guard down like that?" My voice contained an icy coldness that I had never directed at Riku…not since before Atlantica. It took me a moment to realize that was because my voice was Fury's. Our voices were pretty similar, but hers sounded almost more adult-like. Like a grown person void of emotion. What a statue would sound like if statues could talk. Riku's breathing was irregular for a moment as he registered my voice change, and then stood up in a more defensive position.

"Now what?"

"Now you shut up and let me show you what incredible predators we Dark Beings can be." Looking back on this…I always hide my face in the shame of letting my emotions give way to being taken over so easily by my more predatory and blood-thirsty part. I took in a deep breath through my mouth, letting the taste roll over my tongue and drift past the fangs that had manifested in my upper jaw. I opened my blazing red eyes and snapped my head to the right, focusing…was there…yes. There was just a slightly darker tinge in the right direction, giving away the evidence that a dark creature had passed that way just recently. Without a word to Riku I started running again. I am amazed to say that he followed.

As I ran my body changed into a terrifying half-way form. Before Fury and I had had complete control over our combined emotions we called it In-Between Form. Because it was halfway between the two of us. I still had my blond hair and my own clothes, along with my slightly tanned skin. But my veins were purple, the twin points of two fangs showed themselves off, and my eyes looked like the color of blood. I was a monster, but it didn't matter, because when someone becomes a monster in order to kill an even more dangerous monster, it's justified. _At least, that's what I told myself then._

Possible attack methods and strategies along with different combined attacks I could use against this creature of the dark ran through my head, Fury correcting any minor mistakes like a teacher. We were perfectly in sync with each other, a perfect team, one person. The scent of darkness suddenly erupted and I knew she was close. Then I rounded the corner and glimpsed hell.

The scene erupted before my eyes and my brain took it all in, locking the images into my memory before I could turn away, breathe, or scream. There was a man lying on the ground, maybe in his late thirties or early forties. His glasses were slightly askew, his tie draped over his shoulder, and his work suit now suffering from small dirt smudges here and there. Then there was the gaping hole in his chest, blood leaking out of the wound, pieces of I-don't-know what trailed over his clothes. A small drop of scarlet landed on his forehead, sliding down past glassy eyes they could no longer see. I looked up.

Stardust was standing over her prey, leaning forward over the body in a slightly defensive position, the same way a lion may stand over a carcass it had claimed to keep any other animals from trying to take it. In Stardust's hand was the man's heart. An oddly shaped organ that meant life rested in her left hand. She smiled cruelly at me before bringing it to her mouth. When it touched her lips it transformed into a pink, crystalline heart, which hovered in her hand. She forced it against her mouth and the thing shattered into a million glowing fragments, swirling into her body. She had eaten his heart.

"Mmmm not bad" She said before stretching and yawning, her bloody lips opening, showing off her own fangs.

I clenched my blades tightly, let out a wild scream of rage and horror, and charged at her. She stepped back against the wall, a portal opening. _Ten yards_…she faded into the black…_five yards_…it was closing…_three yards_…just a few more steps…zero yar-

I smashed into the stone wall at full speed, breaking my nose and fracturing my skull. Fury took these injuries into account immediately because of her rarely-used ability. I staggered backwards, dazed. Then I came to, and even through the pain, I began crying with heartbroken screams. I pounded my fists against the wall, as if somehow that damned creature would come back if I stood here long enough.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me back. At first I ignored them, still hitting and kicking the wall, screaming all the while. Then I couldn't reach the wall anymore, and started to fight whoever was intervening. No sounds really registered to me, I heard a boy screaming and a high-pitched feral shrieking, but it never really registered that the insane screams were coming from me and the guy's shouts were-

"Riku" my back was pressed against the wall now, with Riku's hands firmly on my upper arms so I could no longer move them in a potentially damaging way. He was close, that way if I tried to kick him it would barely hurt. I stood there, like a doll, my eyes glassy and my body able to do nothing more than hold itself up. Riku tipped my head up and gently parted my lips with his thumb. A few drops of green healing liquid went down my throat. I felt my nose snap in to place, a few more drops of blood leaking out before it was healed, my fractured skull repairing and the bruises and cuts on my knuckles faded. I never had really noticed the pain any of those things gave me anyways.

"Let me go" The words were out before I even remembered thinking them.

"No"

"But I have to-

"She's gone." The words sank in, and I felt more pain then any of the injuries had given me. I sank to my knees, put my head in my hands, and started crying. Not just tears, but heart-wrenching sobs that shook my whole being. Riku sat down against the wall next to me and pulled me onto his lap, one arm around my waist and the other covering my face and holding my head close to him. I cried heartbrokenly for who-knows-how-long, but he stayed there with me, murmuring words of comfort into my hair that I never really heard.

Only one thing mattered-and that was that my promise had been broken.

_I looked at my reflection and gasped at what I saw. I leaped away from the puddle in surprise, my mouth gaping open and ready to release a shrill scream. My mouth never did get its wish. I looked into the puddle again cautiously and saw that my appearance was normal._

"_That's what you will look like if at any point you choose to use my strengths in place of your own." A voice said behind me. I turned to see my 'Dark Being' as she called herself, walking up to me calmly._

_A distant part of me flinched at the thought of looking so terrifying. A shallow part of me that I had buried along with the memories of a long, long time ago. That part of me came from a world where plastic rectangles could buy dreams, and how much money you could spend in one store dominated who you were, and whoever did drugs, got divorced five times, and showed up on TV ruled the place. I shook my head defiantly_

"_No, I'm not like that any more" My Dark Being blinked at me._

"_Considering you just died and were re-born, maybe you should consider this a new beginning, if you truly want to get rid of what weakens you. Make a promise to yourself that will keep you strong."_

_I thought for a moment, and, at the glimpse of an idea, turned around to look at the tower which stood behind me. I knew. My soul recognized the significance of this, even if I didn't. I summoned my Keyblade in my right hand and placed my left hand over my heart. Then I looked to the stormy skies, daring them to strike me down._

"_As a Keyblade Master I hereby promise that as long as I breathe I shall never allow a single being, human or animal, to be hurt by a Demon. I will do anything and everything I can to protect people from being hurt by these creatures, even at the cost of my life." Light gathered at the end of my blade and, sealing the promise, I aimed the Keyblade into the heavens and released the light. The beam shot into the skies and, for the first time in a nonexistent world, the sun shined. Its welcoming fingers warmed the nonexistent planet for only a moment, before the clouds covered it again. _

_**I should have seen what that meant. It meant two things. One, that even in the deepest darkness you could find light. And two, all good things ended, even the most fiercely protected of promises had to come to an end eventually. Eventually, they would break and shatter. Just like mine.**_

**Oh my goodness it's finally done! I can't believe the chapter that took me two months is done! I'm pretty happy though to move on past this melancholy scene. Anyways thank you to anyone who bothered to stick with the story long enough to read this and I'm sorry to anyone who waited anxiously for me to hurry my butt up and get this chapter published into my story. As promised at the top of this chapter- a little more about my writing style changes: I think one of the reasons I stopped writing for a while is I felt like I wasn't putting enough into it, so I stopped and let myself sort of gather new ideas on how to write. Now I'm trying to be more descriptive and phrase things differently. I've decided to stop writing like a new author and more like the eighth grade honors English student I am : ) Well as always if anyone has a question please ask I'd be more than happy to answer, and, please review I'm anxious to see what you guys have to say after so long!**

***oh and if people who are planning on reviewing if you could please comment on my new writing style (seems the same, love, its ok, hate it, whatever) I would really super appreciate it! Until next time everyone!**

****Ok one more thing: at the end of the chapter that promise Lauren made is called a Keyblade Master's Promise, and is something every Keyblade Master makes when they truly accept their weapon (ex: Sora's promise was to find Riku and Kairi and defeat the Heartless) and the little bold and italic paragraph at the very end is basically just Lauren talking again, just not out loud. Ok that's all everyone!**


	28. Guide To ITWILTL

**Ok so I was on vacation the other day in Tennessee (I'm in a different state now) and there wasn't any Internet in the cabin I was staying in so I decided that I would read through my own story (Yeah I was so bored I **_**willingly**_** decided to read this story) and when I was done I was just like D***!! There's a lot of important stuff in there that was mentioned once and was like **_**poof**_**, gone! So here I've a guide sorta thingy for all the important stuff and hopefully this'll help clear up some foggier parts.**

_**Lauren- **__The second Keyblade bearer, was anorexic and best friends with a girl named Erika, but hasn't seen her since her world was destroyed, about five years previous. Has serious issues with the Demons, and is now being hunted down by the Demon Lord. Her Dark Being is Fury, and is the most powerful Dark Being in existence. She was killed by the Demon Lord and Fury resurrected her, which is why they now share a body (to some extent). When she awoke she had very few memories about herself. She doesn't know her age or last name even. Dating Riku (and they are a cute couple indeed XD) _

_**Fury- **__Lauren's Dark Being, and the most powerful Dark Being there is. Fights with a deadly black sword that holds the power of black lightning in it. Was born when Lauren's world was attacked by the Heartless and Lauren first summoned her Keyblade. Lived for about thirteen years in the Demon Realm, with the Demon population (duh) and was marked as an assassin (see Demon Ranks down below), which is the reason for the red streak in her hair. She resurrected Lauren after betraying the Demon Lord. They have been working together against the Demon's ever since._

**Other People Lauren Met- **_Erika: Lauren's best friend since kindergarten who was last mentioned in this story when they were in 6__th__ grade._

_Zack: a member of SOLDIER who found Lauren shortly after her world was destroyed_

_Cloud: an infantryman conspiring to someday become a member of SOLDIER like his hero and best friend Zack._

_Yuffie: First seen in Midgar, as a supporter of Wutai, at a younger age (probably under ten), and then seen years after in Radiant Garden as a young adult (20+)_

_Aerith: First seen as Zack's unofficial girlfriend, and then seen years later in Radiant Garden as a young adult (20+)_

_Cid-First seen in Radiant Garden, a man with a knack for repairing and building gummi ships_

_Leon: First seen in Radiant Garden, a man who wields the Gunblade and works to help destroy the Heartless_

_KH Crew: Y'all know them_

_**Dark Beings-**__ Dark Beings are usually of the same physique of their Light Being (AKA their name for a human person) except they have paler skin with purple veins filled with a deadly venom that does __**not **__have an antidote, which only affects those with beating hearts (AKA humans). They have wings; typically black (Fury's right wing turned white because of the light in Lauren's heart when Fury resurrected her) which they use to fly (go figure). They have superior strength and senses compared to a human (think vampire…). They also have scarlet red eyes with cat slit pupils which they can use to see in the dark and also to detect traces of darkness (like in the last chapter in the alleyway). The have fangs which are used for, obviously, biting and through their fangs they can release venom into a person's blood system. If they survive the Demon Realm they are branded with a colored streak in their hair (more on that later). Their weapons vary depending on their rank, and just what they are best with. Some Dark Beings simply fight hand-to-hand combat style. Dark Beings are incredibly rare because Demons haven't been allowing them to survive in their Realm, and those who do make it are solitary (because they can be). Dark Beings also have the power of Black Fire (definition below)._

_**Demons- **__Demons are not natural to this Realm, but do serve a purpose here. Their job is to 'devour' the spiritual heart of someone who has died a natural death, which is what makes their death permanent and prevents resurrection. The Keyblade Wars took place when the Demons' most previous leader started sending Demons out to kill people that way they could take their spiritual heart. A spiritual heart gives a Demon a small fraction of the power those with hearts possess, but it eventually wears out overtime, which is why Demons are so hell bent on getting hearts. The current Demon Lord was trying to create an all-powerful army when Fury came along. He planned to give her Lauren's heart which would greatly increase Fury's powers, and make a great army-general-type-person. Fury wasn't interested in having a heart though so she betrayed them. Demons are very similar to Dark Beings in appearance and skills. In fact the only differences between the two would be height, weight, the fact that Demons don't have wings (but are able to jump incredibly high), and that Demons' eyes only turn red when they are angry. A Demon's weapon depends on their rank. Demons also have the power of Black Fire._

_**Black Fire- **__Black Fire is basically the life force that all Demons rely on to survive. Their Realm is filled with it, and their leader is in charge of what is called the Demon's Flame, which is a small black flame which is like a mother to all other Black Fires. If the Demon's Flame went out all the other Black Fires would go out in time and all Demons would die. The qualities of Black Fire are; the fire gives off a heat like a regular fire, but if it is touched your skin would freeze, like touching fire ice. The fire is mainly black but if you look closely you can see flashes of blue, purple, and white in it. Dark Beings also gain a dependency on Black Fire during their time in the Demon Realm. Without it they would die too.(this will be mentioned more in the sequel than this story)_

**Demon Ranks- **_When a Demon (or Dark Being) is created they are placed in a category of spy, teacher, or assassin, and then are trained according to their category._

_An assassin's job is to hunt down and kill whoever their superior tells them (Demon Lord)_

_A teacher's job is to train new Demons and Dark Beings in ways of fighting, and basic survival of their kind._

_When a Demon or Dark Being 'gradates' from their category they are given a streak in their black hair in one of three colors: blue, purple, or red. Blue is the color of a spy (Like Nightshade and Midnight), purple is the color of a teacher (haven't met any of those yet…that you know of), and red is the color of an assassin (like Stardust and Fury)_

_*Demons and sometimes Dark Beings are often assigned partners on difficult and/or dangerous spy or assassin missions. (Think Nightshade and Midnight)_

_**Midnight- **__A spy and Nightshade's partner. She reports directly to the Demon Lord and is a great spy, but kind of child-like and borderline ditzy._

_**Nightshade-**__ A spy and Midnight's partner. She reports directly to the Demon Lord and, between her and Midnight, is the more serious member of the two._

_**Aros-**__ Not much information on her yet, all we know is that she is basically the number two in command, and spends a lot of time with the Demon Lord (not. like. that.)._

_**Stardust-**__ An assassin who has so far made two appearances, the first time trying to destroy Lauren and almost succeeding (Nightshade and Midnight stopped her), and the second time being in the previous chapter when she attacked a middle-aged man, most likely just to mess with Lauren. She mentioned when she first came into the story that Lauren had killed her partner._

_**Demon Lord-**__ Wants Lauren, Fury, and anyone else helping them torn to shreds. He was originally out for Lauren because if she died Fury would gain her heart, but then Fury betrayed him and resurrected Lauren, which is why he is now after both of them. He has a terrible hatred for both of them and refuses to let anyone other than himself bring about the death of the two._

**Ok so that's pretty much it (warning I was lazy and didn't edit). If you still have any questions PM me or put it in a review. I would like some reviews/opinions on this chapter even though it isn't officially part of the story, mainly because I'd like to know if this was boring, made things more confusion, or if it was helpful and if you guys think I should do it again! Thanks everyone, and I'll update soon!**


	29. Pranks, Cheaters, and Romance

**Happy April Fool's Day everyone! Yes I know it's late…just think of this chapter as a super early April Fool's Day gift for next year. Oh yeah, I'm on top of things! And I am proud to say that as far as this story goes what you see before you I can gladly call the PERFECT (yes, I said perfect!) chapter ever! It has humor for all of you that love that, action for all of you who love that, fluff for those who enjoy that stuff, actual romance for my lovers out there (not like mine specifically but…oh you get it), and then Fury freaking out which I **_**know**_** you all **_**love**_**! Read and enjoy! I hope it makes you laugh!**

***Wait one quick fun fact (if you don't care you don't have to read) - In France on April the First they have their own version of the American holiday where they basically cut out paper fish and discreetly (or not so much so) tape them to other people's backs XD Their holiday translates into something like April Fish Day (Bonjour to any French people out there, I absolutely love your language and am taking francaise as one of my classes!)**

_*Riku*_

I heard the rustling sound of someone rolling over in the bed to the right of mine for, what, the eleventy-seventh time? I couldn't really blame her though. It had only been two days since Stardust had torn that poor man to shreds. _When I find her I'm going to make her pay._ The past two nights Lauren had woken up in the middle of the night crying or screaming…_or both._

Lauren restlessly turned over again in her bed and, sighing, I rolled over too so I was facing her bed.

"Can I help you?" I asked her quietly. She groaned and face-planted into her pillow.

"Iiiii caaannnn'ttttt slllleeeeeeepppp" She moaned, sounding like a zombie. I waited…and waited…I finally opened my mouth to reply when she took her face out of her pillow and smiled at me. "Tell me a story Riku!"

"Huh?" _Does not compute. _Lauren rolled her eyes

"A story! You know, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves-

"That sounds inappropriate"

"Or Cinderella-

"What is that?! A sickness?!"

"Or Sleeping Beauty-

"That would be you if you would actually just go to sleep!"

"Ok you know what forget it!"

"You were serious?" Lauren gave her _duh-you-stupid-idiot_ look.

"Are those real stories?" Lauren sat bolt upright

"I've never heard of any of them…." Lauren frowned

"You're an awful story teller"

"Well my sincerest apologies" Lauren laid flat on her back with a huff, her sheets whirling around her. _Hmmm what story can I tell…?_

"Do you know what today is?!" I asked her, causing her to look at me curiously.

"March 31st?"

"Well actually it's one in the morning so technically it's…_April Fool's Day!" Ta-daaaa, Riku the Amazing Story Teller has done it again! _Lauren frowned again

"I liked your commenting on my story ideas more" she pouted. I sat up and crossed my arms

"Well I'm sorry I couldn't please you Princess" I said sarcastically, really- I'd had half as much sleep as I'm used to getting over the past two days because of her. Shouldn't she be looking for ways to entertain _me? _I couldn't help but smile as I thought of what things she could do to entertain me…_heheh_

"What are you smiling about?" My fantasies shattered and I racked my brain for something logical to say

"I'!" I ran out of the room, no, _sprinted for my effing life out of the room._

_*Lauren*_

**He's starting to act more and more like Sora by the day.**

_I know. It's so sad isn't it?!_

**I don't…really…care**

_Now what?_

**He went to the training room.**

_So?_

**Let's follow! And when we get there we can pulverize him!**

_...Sure why not_

And without further ado I slid out of my bed, retied my shorts, un-twisted the straps on my tank top and off we/I/us went.

_****_

When I got to the training room Riku was in the BGB (A/N: Big Glass Box where you fight virtual Heartless for those of you with the memory span of a goldfish!). I snuck over to the control table and peeked over to see Riku fighting Heartless and giving it his all. He had probably only been fighting for maybe five minutes but he was already sweating…and he was shirtless.

While angels sang to me from the heavens above Fury took control of our (?) hand and turned the level up ten notches. My beautiful song was cut off abruptly when Riku was knocked to the ground by an over-sized Neoshadow. Fury merely separated herself from me so she could keep her hand on the control.

"Hey!" I quickly summoned up my blades before attacking Fury, accidently hitting the controls while I did so. I tackled Fury to the ground and we began trying to murder each other like teenage twin brothers.

"A little help out here!" I heard Riku shout and I quickly threw Fury off of me and turned the BGB off. I ran into the BGB, stopping a few steps into it. Riku was standing towards the center, panting, shirtless, sweating, and with a small cut on his cheek which was oozing blood. The angels resumed their singing.

He looked exactly like that hot actor playing the war-beaten hero in every girl's favorite movie. He looked _hot. _No, that didn't do him justice. It was more like s-

**I can hear you!**

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and ran up to my se-Riku. I quickly ran up to Riku…_riiight._

"Are you ok?!" I asked him, rubbing a droplet of blood off his cheek with my thumb. He gave me a tired smile.

"I'm good" I hugged him tightly.

"Good. If you were hurt I would've had to exile Fury forever." Riku collapsed to the ground theatrically.

"Aaahh it hurts so much!" he gripped the area over his heart and rolled over, moaning in pain.

"Oh be quiet you" Riku grinned, like an actual full-toothed grin. My insides melted. My brain too

"Hello? Hey Blondie snap out of it!" Riku clapped in front of my face, trying to get me out of my trance. Purely on impulse I put both hands firmly on each side of his face and pulled him into a long kiss. _Heh impulse, we'll just go with that. _He kissed me back _hard,_ pressing his mouth against mine with such intensity it was like borderline _need_ to be near me. He gently bit my bottom lip, silently asking. I hesitated just a second…before opening my-

"Oh my god you two stop it! Stop it right now! It's like I'm not even here!" Fury screamed, hitting such high notes it made my ears ring.

"It'd be better if you weren't" Riku pointed out calmly, pulling his mouth away from mine, but keeping his hands around my waist. _When did those get there?_

Determined to find something to distract myself from Fury's shrieking and what Riku had just done to me (and my teenager hormones yes I'll be honest) I summoned up my Keyblade and murmured a cure spell next to his cheek. He gave a small smile and rubbed the blood away from where the cut had been, thanking me with his eyes.

"You two disgust me" Fury said, shaking her head back in forth. I ignored her and looked at Riku

"Can my battle rugged warrior handle one more fight?"

"Hell, when you put it like that how am I supposed to say no?"

"You aren't" I explained. Riku chuckled before summoning up Way to the Dawn.

"Alright, bring it on!" Riku walked out of the BGB over to a wider area, expecting me to follow. I walked up to Fury and held out my hand.

"This is my way of making it up to you." She rolled her eyes, still grumpy.

"If I wanted to kick Silver Haired Bastard's ass I would rather do it as my own being."

"But this way he won't see it coming." I pointed out slyly. Her eyes met mine. Slowly she smirked and got a vicious gleam in her eye.

"Let's do this"

"But no maiming or murdering" I told her, holding my hand just out of reach.

"Take all the fun out of it why dontcha?"

"I try"

_*Riku*_

Lauren came out smiling in a very Fury-ish way. _Odd._ I looked around to see no Fury. Now if Lauren wasn't my girlfriend I would've suspected that she and Fury had formed one person so they could totally kick my ass. But Lauren was my girlfriend and she was in a good mood, as sleep deprived as she may be. So she wouldn't do that to me right? _Right?!_

"Ready to get this show on the road?" Lauren called from maybe thirty feet or so away.

"Bring it!" I yelled, positioning my blade in my hand so that it felt comfortable. Lauren started running, without a blade in either hand and then, when she had maybe fifteen feet to go between us she summoned up _Fury's black sword and her eyes turned the color of fresh blood._

Lauren/Fury jumped into the air, flipped, and brought her black sword down hard on the floor of the training room. A jolt of black lightning sparked up from the ground in a vertical wave, heading straight for me. I just had enough time to mentally scream _you chea- _before being hit by the wave. I managed to absorb the attack with my wonderful blade, but was sent flying backwards. I flipped backwards in a large arc before landing on a thin beam over top of the weight area with grace I never knew I possessed.

I quickly collected myself before running across the beam, not focusing on the skinny path, because that would make me fall. I was maybe a few steps away from the end of the metal when everything went black. _Damn._

_*Lauren*_

I was preparing myself for Riku's attack overhead when suddenly everything went dark. I felt the vertical pupils in my red eyes widen to take in the scene, but before I could really absorb my view Fury pulled herself out of me, causing my vision to go dark.

At the same time as she announced "The power's out, I'll go see what I can do" I heard Riku cry out before a series of painful shouts and the sound of falling metal echoed through the room. A dull _thud_ ended the noise.

"Riku!" I sprinted in his direction, tripping over a fallen dumbbell, which turned out to be fortunate because my right hand landed on his ankle. I heard the strained sound of his breathing and quickly scooted closer to him, using my hands as my eyes.

When my hands felt over his chest they stopped abruptly. I found the problem. From what I could tell one of the weights had fallen right on Riku's bare chest, probably breaking a few of his ribs and maybe piercing a lung in the process. I leapt to my feet and began to pull with all my might at the weight, but it was just too heavy. I'd never been one to possess great upper-body strength. Riku's breath was coming in short gasps now and he let out a short groan of pain.

"I'm sorry Riku I'm trying!" my eyes were watering now, the feeling of helpless desperation seeping into my body.

"Move over" Fury nudged me aside, hitting my hip with hers. She single-handedly picked up the weight a tossed it a few feet away almost casually.

"_Now_ I will go see what's going on" I heard her say, before her footsteps faded off. Riku made the mistake of breathing in deeply, cutting of the breath as his injuries attacked him. I bent back over and lightly placed my hand on his chest.

"Cure" I said before experiencing a wave of dizziness, the black lightning wave had used up almost all of my magic and the cure spell finished it off. Riku groaned before cautiously sitting up.

"Are you ok now?" I whispered, my voice traveling easily in the dark.

"Yeah I'm alright; I think my ribs are just bruised now" Hs voice sounded thick, sort of sticky…

"Oh my god Riku!" In one fluid motion I leaned against a metal bar and pulled Riku somewhat into my lap. _Sure I can drag the teenage boy across the floor but can't pick up a stupid weight._

I swept his sweaty bangs away from his eyes and kissed his now-wet cheek gently. He made a move to get up but I held on fiercely.

"Please don't tell me you're one of those guys who thinks crying is a sign of weakness" I used to think like that, but now I know better. _We are all just human, even the guys…no matter how strange they are. _Riku remained silent. "Well I don't care if you cry on a regular basis" I told him firmly, running my hand through his silver hair before tracing his muscles as they went down the side of his arm with one finger. He let out a weird combination of a sigh and a moan ("Mmmm").

"What? You don't agree with me"

"No not that, it's just you don't have any idea how good that feels, especially after almost being killed by a stupid weight" I experimentally ran my finger down his arm again. I felt him smile against my neck. "Yeah, just like that"

I kissed his hair gently before running my hand through his hair again, running down to the very tips of the silver where I knew it to be almost white. Then my hand glided over to the right spot on his shoulder, a spot I knew for a fact was sore from routine Heartless fighting. I massaged the spot gently with my thumb. Riku did that weird little sigh-moan thing I was coming to like.

Next I moved my hand over his shoulder and, reaching over his arm, I traced the curve of his neck gently, moving as far over as my hand would allow. I then proceeded to run my index finger along his jaw line, then his cheek bone, up to his forehead where I brushed his persistent bangs away from his face. I gently ran my hands over his smooth eyelids, brushing past his dark lashes. I ran my finger over the bridge of his nose, down his other cheek and to his mouth which was opened just slightly in a relaxed sort of way. Finally I traced over his soft lips before pulling my hand away.

I felt his head tilt up towards mine and I carefully leaned down, not wanting to screw this up in the dark. My lips landed against his perfectly (_thank god_). My hand reached down to grasp his, holding it gently while Riku's hand tightened over mine. I used my free hand to pull my hair away from my face. If my blond locks got in the way of me and Riku's alone time nobody would be happy. Me, the Boyfriend, or the Hair. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss, before gently tracing my lips with the tip of his tongue. I felt an intense shiver travel down my spine.

Riku smiled against my lips before going back to kissing me. I, on the other hand, mentally frowned. Sure pleasure was a haze that covered my brain and erased all bad thoughts, but my boyfriend was obviously holding the upper hand in this kiss. _Now how to change that…_

Then, out of nowhere, a bright flash of light went off, followed by a click, and then following _that_ the lights came back on. Riku and I jumped apart and looked around in shock.

There, standing just outside the training room, were the entire remainder of people on this ship. _Even Fury!_

_*Riku*_

I blinked at them in surprise. _What the fuck is their problem? They are all grinning like total idiots…ohhh ok, so you guys saw me and Lauren kissing. Big deal guys that's just the most incredible thing ever. Stick around; you'll see a lot more of it._

Then Sora held up a camera. A stupid, silver, shiny, digital, top-of-the-market camera. He waved it back and forth over his head.

"I'm sending this to your fan club back home!" He yelled cheerfully. _Yes I have a fan club, so does Sora in fact. Yeah mine's bigger but hey, we can't all be as lucky as my stupid friend._ "Alright everyone on the count of three! One…two…three!"

"_**APRIL FOOL'S!"**_ Everyone cheered. I glanced at Lauren, an amused smile on my face. I frowned though when I saw how outraged she looked. She leapt to her feet, summoning the Oblivion and Fenrir.

"This was all just a practical joke?! The lights too?!"

"Hey stuff happens when the lights go out!" Tidus pointed out. _Heh true_

Lauren broke into a run, going straight for my stupid friends. "Riku could have _DIED_! All because of your stupid _PRACTICAL JOKE_!" Everyone yelled and ran for cover. I just chuckled to myself, still sitting on the ground. I didn't think I'd ever seen Lauren so mad…and it wasn't directed at me! Score…_hey wait a second…was Sora serious about sending that picture?! Those crazy girls will eat me alive!_

"_SORA!"_ I jumped up and charged off in the direction he had run. Lauren hadn't gone after him, but man oh man he was gonna have a reason to fear for his life now!

**Hahaha this was basically just a filler chapter, not really anything important. I still hope you all enjoyed it though. I actually came up with this chapter while I was still half asleep this morning on vacation to North Carolina. I almost made this an entirely different one-shot story but I figured it had too much in common with ITWILTL (in common=Fury and Lauren). Well I hope everyone liked it! My next chapter will probably be filler too but I think it'll be pretty interesting. Happy April Fool's Day '10 (and '11!) **

**Oh and in the spirit of pranks and funny and that sorta stuff I've got a question that does inspire a little creative thinking:**

**Let's say Sora did send that picture of Lauren and Riku kissing to Riku's oh-so-obsessed fan club back home. How do you think they would react? Simple answer or a few paragraphs, up to you. The best/funniest one (or maybe the only one I get…we'll see) I will post at the beginning of my next chapter!**


	30. New Me, Typical You

**I present you with: the 31****st**** chapter!! Jeez this story's much longer than I had planned. I was thinking more like 25 chapters or so…well we still have two more worlds to visit and then the whole climatic end, along with the cliff hanger that gives way to the sequel (And that's ITWILTL in a nutshell!). This chapter is definitely longer than my average chapters (its 11 pages on Microsoft Word!) but there's something about it that…bugs me. If any of you can figure out what this chapter is lacking I'll send you a Kingdom Hearts servant (you can pick your person XD). So it's a Riku/ Lauren chapter pretty much (yes another one) and hopefully you guys like it! Enjoy!**

_*Stardust*_

"Things have been a bit quiet for them don't you think?" I asked my leader in the most cautious of tones. He gave an amused chuckle.

"Need I remind you that a mere few days ago you tore a man to shreds before our enemy's eyes?"

"Yes Master, I remember, but now I'm seething with energy!" He held out a hand in my direction, warning me to relax and refuse to let my power get me too carried away.

"Well we already have tested our first and most 'concerning' threat" He laughed at the word _concerning_ "in multiple fields…but I suppose you could test out the boy…the one she's so close with…Riku was it?"

"Yes master, I've been eager to face him for some time now."

"Oh so you were planning to fight him anyways, even though I have already made your priorities clear?" _Aw shit!_

"No not at all Master of course not, I was simply hoping that the next time_ you_ told me to present myself that he may give me an opportunity to see his strength." He sighed, a hand resting just under his chin in thought

"I suppose I'll let you get away with that one" _Phew._

"But you can _not_ let him know it was you who attacked him!" him finished firmly

"But how do I do that?"

"I believe they have a new feature on their ship…something that has to do with fighting Demons?"

_*Lauren*_

I sighed contentedly, when you're risking your life on a daily basis to dance with the forces of darkness on the off chance that you might come out on top it was nice to get the chance to do…well, what I was doing.

Kairi and Namine had spent the day after April Fool's Day sending the boys here and there to place new furniture (Fury was also included in that when I mentioned her casually saving Riku's life by single-handedly tossing a fifty-pound weight…she's not talking to me now). So, as of today, our gummi ship actually resembled some sort of house that has all teenagers and no adults…like a fancy orphanage? I don't really know…

So now here I am sitting on a tan-leather couch, sprawled out and relaxed, my right hand dangling over the side of the couch, resting in Riku's soft silver hair (he was sitting on the carpet), watching Sora and Roxas competing to see which half was better at this PS3 racing game that, when explained to me, gives me the worst freaking migraine you can imagine.

After a while I got so confused with the game I could no longer tell who was winning or losing and the bright colors were starting to damage my eyesight. Once another race was completed (I think) Sora paused the game and tossed the controller to Riku.

"I need to go make a quick announcement before everyone falls asleep" he explained before walking out of the room through a sliding glass door and down the hall towards the control room.

"You're going down Roxas" Riku grinned evilly and got up to head over closer to the TV. I stubbornly gripped his hair for a moment before letting go.

"Why don't we just watch a movie or something?" I yawned, face planting into a pillow.

"Just one race" Riku said, holding up one finger.

_*Riku*_

"Hey you cheated!" Roxas whined, sounding like Sora. I laughed

"Just because I'm better at this game than you doesn't make me a cheater."

"Re-match!"

"You're on!"

"Ugggh" Lauren groaned.

"What?" I asked, turning around after pausing the game.

"You said one game! This is your tenth!" _Whoa…really?_ I looked at Roxas, hoping he knew what I was thinking. I sighed, like I was about to give up the game, and then quickly un-paused it and started yelling at Roxas about how I was going to win. Then he started yelling back and neither of us could hear my girlfriend. _Yeah I'm just a great guy like that._

About halfway through the race I heard Sora's voice come on over the intercom, but that was just as one of the louder parts of the race started. I did manage to catch small bits of it though

"New feature…BGB…Demon practice….training room….Cid…install-

So there was a new feature in the training room which allows us to practice fighting Demons and Cid installed it for us. _Cool_

A few minutes later Sora came back in and, after the two of us spent ten minutes fighting over the controller Lauren again suggested a movie. That sounded a bit more tempting now considering the situation.

"Alright fine, I'll pick out a movie" I told her before getting up and going over to the newly-installed selves full of movies, courtesy of my blood, sweat, and tears. No that's not being over dramatic, I hit my thumb with a hammer which broke my finger nail in half after working for over an hour hauling furniture. Thus, blood, sweat, and tears that nobody saw.

I picked up a couple of movies, reading the names out loud.

"The Titanic…The Notebook…what kind of movies are these?!" I exclaimed

"Girls movies, perfect for the two who were doing the shopping when all this stuff was bought" Roxas sulked

"Awww man this bites!" Sora groaned. I just smiled my evil smile.

"Too bad nobody snuck a guy movie that a guy might wanna watch…like this one!" I pulled The House Bunny out from under my jacket. The guys cheered while Lauren just groaned and covered her face with a pillow. (A/N I did watch this movie for the first time last night and I got to say: Dumbest. Movie. Ever.)

_*Lauren*_

**How is this even a movie? Basically all it is is some playboy bunny teaching nice girls how to be slutty whores.**

_Hello there._

**Why are you watching this?**

_I'm just that bored._

**Hmmm**

A tingling sensation filled my body and before I could stop her, Fury took control of my body. 'I' caught Riku's gaze and winked my red eye at him before shoving him off the couch with my feet and leaving the room, making sure to step _on_ him as I left.

_****_

Naturally Riku came back the room acting super pissed off at me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He demanded upon entering the room. I closed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (reading is the one thing I possess academically that is above a 6th grade level) and quickly explained.

"Fury made me do it!" Quick and to the point. Riku sighed and grudgingly smiled.

"If anyone else had blamed their Dark Being other I wouldn't have believed them" I smiled, that was a compliment…right?

"Soooo, wanna watch a movie? I'll let you pick and I'll watch it happily" I told him, trying to make peace. He frowned

"I think I'm just gonna take a shower and go to bed" Now it was my turn to frown, Riku never turned down a movie night with me! Even after just finishing a movie with someone else…like tonight!

"You sure?" I wasn't trying to be pushy or anything, but this was really odd behavior for him. He nodded before grabbing his nighttime clothes (Do guys really have pj's?) and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind him with a _click_.

I, never one to give up easily, grabbed my book and plopped myself down on _his_ bed. Ok, so maybe he wasn't in the mood for a movie, but would he really go so far as to kick me out of his bed? I was really getting used to sharing a bed with him, and, not that I would ever tell him this, I was actually starting to like it.

_****_

Harry had just dove into the frozen pond after Godric Gryffindor's sword when Riku came out of the bathroom, hair still damp and just a pair of baggy shorts around his waist. I held the book over my face to hide a smile. No, I wasn't a person who particularly based a person off their looks. Hell, look at me when I get pissed off. I bet none of you grow fangs and have your eyes change color when you're pissed off. But yes, I was secretly pleased that I was dating such a good looking guy.

"You're in my bed" Riku said with a sigh, placing his hand casually on his hip in an oh-so-feminine-way. _I will have to work on that._ Faking confidence, I winked

"You're welcome" I chimed, looking back down at my book. Riku sighed again and suddenly I was being lifted…carried…and dropped down in my own bed. Quickly forcing my anger to the surface to cover my hurt a glared at him before sitting my book on my nightstand, tapping my lamp (Kairi and Namine got everyone lamps that turn on and off when you touch it) off and rolling over so I was looking away from Riku, towards a beautiful blue wall instead. Somewhere between my messed up mental growling and whimpering I managed to fall asleep.

_*Riku*_

After a perfectly uneventful night all I wanted to do was find some action. The previous night I had felt a little bad about moving Lauren, especially considering for once she was looking to spend time with me and not the other way around, but I just wasn't in the mood you know? Plus it's just Lauren, its not like she'll care…right?

After getting changed in my usual jacket over a jacket, loose jeans, and tennis shoes I headed down to the training room. I had decided that I was going to be the first person to participate in this virtual Demon fighting program!

_*Lauren*_

Bored, I strolled down the hallway of the gummi ship, wondering what to do. I had been thinking about going to the training room for a little while but had decided against it when I had seen Riku going in that direction. I rounded one of the sharper corners in the gummi ship and ran right into Kairi…and Namine…and Selphie.

"Oh hey Lauren! Not often we see you on this side of the ship" Kairi remarked (our rooms are on opposite sides of the gummi ship).

"Oh yeah…just wondering around I guess." Namine raised an eyebrow.

"What's got you down in the dumps?" Selphie asked curiously, tilted her head slightly and blinking.

"Well…Riku has been acting kind of strangely lately…of course it's probably not even a big deal. Or better yet just my imagination!" I explained, laughing nervously. I definitely didn't want to get a rumor circulating about me and Riku having_ problems_, especially if there weren't any. The three other girls shared a look, communicating in their own silent way.

"Why don't you tell us about it on the way to Kairi's room? I think we know how we can help" Namine said. _Oh boy…_

_*Riku*_

_Hmm…I guess since this is my first time I should just set it to level one._

I went ahead and turned the knob to Level One, and set the fighting style to Demon. I stepped into the BGB, closing the _glass_ door (oh a glass door what a surprise) behind me. I waited a moment for the initiation to begin…and waited…and heck, I waited a little bit more._ It must be because I'm the first one and the system's running a bit slow._

I sighed before sitting down. _This is just great._

_*Lauren*_

"Riku's _what_?!" I exclaimed, leaping out of my chair.

"Guys tend to only have short relationships with girls at this age because they get…well, bored with the girl they are dating, so they go out and find another." Kairi calmly repeated herself. I fell back into my chair

"So…Riku's gonna dump me now?" I felt like such a child, ignorant and sad over something so small.

"Don't start beating yourself up about being sad, Riku_ was_ your first boyfriend _and_ your first kiss" Namine reminded me, somehow managing to read my mind.

"He was?! Details now!" Selphie squealed, leaning in towards me. I blinked up at her calmly before shaking my head. Kairi just laughed at Selphie's horrified expression.

"We'll find out later Selph. For now let's just focus on Lauren keeping her boyfriend."

"But how- I started

"Just leave it to us" Kairi winked

_*Riku*_

"Finally!" I yelled, jumping to my feet. I had been waiting ten whole minutes for this stupid program to start up! A creature of the night stepped through a portal and out onto the clear landscape. There's even a portal? _Wow, you gotta appreciate the special effects. Anything to make it more real I guess._

The Demon fixed its violet eyes on me, unraveling the whip that was at her side. This Demon seemed familiar to me but hey, they all looked practically identical! Without another word or gesture, she charged at me, flinging the whip out in my direction.

Caught off guard, I quickly back flipped, summoning my weapon while upside down. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough and the Demon's whip skimmed the side of my leg. I landed and quickly shifting my weight, analyzing how bad it was. Minor, just a scratch, nothing serious.

Luckily though, the next time the Demon lashed her whip I was ready; I quickly jumped off to the right and lunged forward, slicing my own weapon through her pale shoulder. She hissed angrily, her eyes turning a red to argue Fury's.

Her whip vanished and she lunged at me, her black nails lengthening into claws. _That's new_

I back flipped out of the way of her claws and as soon as I landed I pushed myself back into the air, curling my body up tight and flipping forwards this time. As I finished the flip I uncurled my body and released a lightning bolt of my own dark powers at her.

She had actually just leaped into the air after me when my attack hit her, sending her flying backwards into the back wall. She quickly repositioned herself on her feet and spread her hands out, darkness spreading out along the floor. It even went far enough to reach me.

_Uh-oh, standing on a sea of black can't be a good thing._

_*Lauren*_

"Here we go!" Namine finally finished Part One of Operation: KLaRT (Keep Lauren and Riku Together). So the gist of the plan was they were basically going to give me a complete makeover. Clothes, looks, attitude, everything. I was going to become a new person basically. All. For. Riku.

**Hmph that bastard better be grateful, especially if we get our eyebrows plucked again.**

_If that happens I'm going to make him be my slave for a year._

**I don't think your new attitude will approve of that.**

_Oh shut up_

Namine passed her drawing around for everyone to see. Once it reached Kairi, who I was sitting next to, I reached my hand out to see it, but she quickly covered it.

"I don't think so; this drawing Namine made of the new you is going to be a surprise!"

"But what if I don't like it?!" I protested. The girls were all silent for a second.

"Well then you have zero taste in anything decent" Selphie concluded. I just frowned

"If you guys are sure…"

"Of course we're sure!" Namine said, leading me into Kairi and Selphie's bathroom and sitting me down in front of the mirror. "Now you need to keep your eyes shut so…" Suddenly there was a blindfold over my eyes.

"Hey I didn't agree with this!"

"Its Riku's blindfold so I'm sure you won't mind" _Touché._ The other girls laughed and, just to remind them of my patience, I summoned up Fury's darkness and forced the lights off.

"Now can we _please_ be serious?" I asked.

"Yes!" The girls all chimed, and I allowed the lights to come back on. Immediately Kairi got to work on my hair while Selphie started doing something to my nails (I can't see remember?).

"What's Namine doing?" I asked, trying to strike up conversation.

"She's using her power of memory to draw you clothes and bring them to life. Now quiet" Kairi said in an all-business type voice.

_What have we gotten ourselves into?_

**Trouble. No surprise there.**

_*Riku*_

To avoid the black ground I quickly jumped up and began running along the side of the glass box's wall, shortening the distance between me and the nameless Demon. She quickly changed her angle so she was facing me, raising her arm high into the air, her hand bent as if it was pulling something.

Suddenly I felt something wrap around my waist and throw me backwards. I landed roughly on my back, rolling over onto my front and quickly leaping up. The black floor had long arm-like things sprouting out of it, controlled by my opponent. She shot them at me with a simple motion of her arm.

Dodging, leaping, and slashing my sword I managed to block the first few of them, but one of them tripped me, and the next thing I knew I was hovering a few feet in the air, hopelessly entangled in the black vines.

The Demon walked towards me casually, taking her time getting to me. The whole time I struggled to position my arm just right…

Once she was maybe seven feet away she grabbed her whip. _Perfect_

With a shout I summoned my blade back to me and whirled around, slashing the darkness and watching them evaporate. I landed and lunged at the Demon quickly, stabbing my blade right through where her heart would've been.

"Gotcha" She staggered back, her eyes wide…before fading away, her essence floating up into the air.

"Alright!" I cheered, punching the air with my fist. _Now to tell Sora!_

I sprinted out of there, victory egging me on.

_*Lauren*_

"Ok Lauren we are all done! Ready to see the new you?" Finally after all my anxious anticipation I could see what they had done to me…and I was suddenly a big ball of nervousness. _What if I looked terrible?! Or worse-girly?! _

"I-I don't know you guy-

"_Ta-da!!"_ Kairi tore of my blindfold and before I could shut my eyes my new appearance blasted me in the face.

"Whoa…." I leaned in to look at my 'new' face, and then stepped back to see myself as a whole. "Wow you guys…I really owe you"

The section of my bangs that partially covered my right eye had been dyed black; making it seem like the right half of the room no longer existed. The tips of my golden locks were also died a midnight black. My make-up was simple, some light pink gloss to make my lips shine and attract more attention to my face. My eyes were surrounded by a smoky black-gray coloring that, when combined with the dark mascara I had on, made my eyes go from pale blue to electric blue.

The outfit I had on was unique, but it definitely played to my advantage appearance-wise, and fighting-wise. My shirt was made of a lightweight material that flowed gently over the top half of my body, the blue color matching my eyes and making it seem like someone had managed to turn a river into a piece of clothing. The top of the shirt ended just above my chest, so no, I wouldn't flash anyone while fighting. It was secured to me by a thin strap that connected to a black circle resting over my heart. The strap wrapped around the back of my neck, the other end of the strap ending back at the black circle. My pants were just a simple pair of black shorts that hugged my body but were made of a more flexible material so I could move easily (Do NOT think spandex). My shoes were a pair of black Converse that went up about halfway to my knee, like Yuffie's shoes did. (A/N if any of you have trouble visualizing this, don't worry- I've got a friend of mine working on a drawing!)

"Oh my god you guys! I look…like…"

"You look pretty." Namine said simply, and suddenly I wanted to cry. I had never in my life been told I looked even remotely close to 'pretty'.

"!" I shouted, hugging my three fairy godmothers. We all broke into laughter and had a group hug.

"Now what?" I asked, slightly breathless.

"You go find Riku" I froze.

**You feeling ok Ms. Beauty Queen?**

_I think it's time to figure out whether us being one person prevents me from puking my guts out or not._

**Can't wait.**

_****_

I walked down the hall, my new shoes adding a spring to my step. _So this was the outfit I would be wearing for our journey…_

Namine said that she had drawn up a full wardrobe for me, along with a few things for Fury (_Oh jeez_), but this outfit had the same qualities as Sora's black and yellow clothing number, being that these clothes never got dirty or torn. They were timeless.

As I came around the corner I practically ran right into my boyfriend…and by practically I mean totally smashed straight into him.

"Lauren!"

"Riku?" I stepped back, trying to let him see my make-over without making it too obvious I was trying. "Notice anything diff-

"I gotta go talk to Sora I'll see you later Lauren!" Riku sprinted off in the direction I came without even a glance at me.

"Oh…ok then" I half-heartedly kicked the wall, heading back to my room. "I should've known"

**So according to Kairi since your make-over didn't work…**

_I'm not going to have a boyfriend for much longer._

**I'm gonna go celebra- I mean **_**mourn**_**, in the Realm of Darkness.**

_Kay, you do that._

I walked back to my room, head hung towards the ground and my heart feeling numb.

_*Riku*_

"Sora guess what!" I charged into the main room where Roxas and Sora were racing each other on that _same_ video game. Sora paused the game and looked up at me

"What is it Riku?" he asked, his eyes blinking with curiosity.

"I, Riku, am the first person to have successfully tried out the new Virtual Demon System!" I said proudly, jabbing my thumb into my chest. Sora and Roxas just stared

"Feel free to openly admire me" I grinned at their expressions…then they both burst out laughing

"How stupid do you think we are?!" Sora exclaimed after he had caught his breath.

"Pretty stupid, but that's beside the point" I snapped, feeling annoyed. Their reactions definitely _weren't _what I had imagined.

"That was a nice try, but I announced to everyone that the system has a glitch and won't work, and that I'll have Cid work on it the next time we are in Radiant Garden." Sora said, grinning like he had just won the Underdome cup.

"Wait when did you announce that?!" I exclaimed, panic settling over me. Had that Demon been a figment of my imagination?! _Was I going crazy?!_

"It was the other day, you know, before we all watched House Bunny and Lauren stepped on your face?" Roxas snickered at that last part. I sub-consciously rubbed my cheek

"Yeah I remember... the day…but look! The Demon I fought cut my leg!" I pulled up my pant leg and showed him the thin line on my ankle, dried blood underneath it. Sora shook his head

"Riku, anyone on this ship could've done that, not just a Demon. Plus I bet you could've made Fury _pay _you to do that." He and Roxas went back to their game. "Come back when you are missing a limb and then I'll believe you!" Numbly, I went back to my room. _What the fuck happened in that training room?_

_*Lauren*_

I was curled up on my bed looking off into space when my soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend came in, looking _almost_ as depressed as I was.

"How was your day?" I asked him emotionlessly

"My friends laughed in my face and I think I'm going crazy. You?"

"I found out my boyfriend's bored with me."

"Huh…did you do something with your hair?" I stiffly stood up and spun around on one foot. "Kairi gave me a full body make-over. Whoop-dee-freaking-doo." I said, crossing my arms over my chest and plopping back down on my bed.

"Soooo Kairi and her friends of the female persuasion changed your outer-self. But not your inner-self right?" I gave him an odd look, and then shook my head _no._ He smiled and came over to sit next to me, wrapping one arm around my waist, pulling me closer and laying his head down on top of mine.

"Good. That's my favorite part about you…by the way I'm not bored with you at all so the whole make-over wasn't necessary…though I do like the shoes." I smiled into his shoulder. Kairi, Selphie, and Namine may know everything when it comes to dating boys, but they didn't know a _thing_ when it came to dating Riku.

**Ta-daaa! So there's chapter 31! I hope you guys liked it, even though there was something missing. Furthermore, I hope at least one of you can tell me what was wrong with it! I'll get right to work on the next chapter (in a few days). So in the meantime if you could review and tell me what you think and answer the question below! (Please?)**

_**Is Riku really going crazy?!**_


	31. Surprises and Ideas

**Okay so wow, it's been like, forever and a day since I updated. I'm really sorry, not only have I been crazy busy with summer gym but when I was about ten pages into this chapter my computer decided to delete the whole file-even though I had saved it like five or six times. There isn't much fluff in here for those people who like that, or that much of anything, it's more of a 'flowy', 'here-and-there' kind of chapter. There is some important stuff in here though (Mixed within the random dialogue that is)! I hope you guys haven't forgotten too much about this story-especially since it's almost done! It's my longest chapter yet guys so enjoy!**

**Just a quick little announcement-this story is officially a year old! Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and I hope you guys enjoy the last few chapters**

_*Lauren*_

"Come on little girl, time to get up" I felt a familiar hand pat my shoulder, shaking me slightly. I blinked open and focused my eyes on the face in front of me. He smiled, "There ya go, up and at 'em."

"What's got you all happy?" I asked Riku, yawning and stretching out my arms.

"We just landed in Halloween Town, which is supposedly connected to Christmas Town, where_ the_ Santa Claus lives…of course Sora's just lying about that" Riku's eyes flashed sadly for just a moment and he looked away. "Did I ever tell you the story regarding me and Sora over the Santa topic?" He asked his smile back. I nodded, sliding my legs out of bed and facing him.

"When you two were little you found Sora writing a note to Santa Claus and you thought you would be all cool and make him cry by telling him Santa didn't exist. Then, eight years later, after your huge adventure, Sora mentions 'Oh yeah by the way Riku, I met Santa Claus and he wanted me to tell you he said hi' and all that jazz. So today you think you are going to prove him wrong and embarrass him in front of Kairi, because you are merciless."

"Hell yes" He replied, winking, before getting up and heading into the bathroom.

_**So, have you ever been to this world before?**_

I jumped badly as Riku's voice echoed in my head casually.

_When did you learn to do that?_

_**I just know your head I guess…**_

_So you know Fury dreamed about decapitating you last night?_

_**No, but I could've guessed. Anyways, back to the question at hand…**_

_No, I can't say I've ever been here, which is weird because it sounds just like my kind of place!_

I slid my closet door open, tapping my chin as I contemplated what to wear

_**Go with something plain, Sora says this world designs your appearance, kind of like Atlantica.**_

_It's one thing to talk to me; it's another to eavesdrop on my thoughts._

_**Don't eat me, how will I protect you from the scary monsters this place has?**_

_That's ironic because I had a dream about a skeleton popping out from behind a gravestone and scaring you shitless. You jumped into my arms crying like a little baby. I had to carry you back to the ship._

_**Your strength is extremely over-exaggerated in your dreams.**_

_Or maybe you just severely underestimate my strength_

…_**Nah**_

A knock on my door knocked my snarky reply from my head

"Come on in" I called, quickly pulling my messy hair up just in case it was one of the guys. It wasn't.

"Hey Lauren, this thought popped into my head this morning, and I wanted to come talk to you about it." Namine said, stepping into the room, "Oh I'm sorry, you aren't even dressed"

"Its fine, I'll be out in a second!" Namine nodded before stepping back out through the doorway.

_Hey Cinderella, if you're done preparing for the Halloween Town Ball, I need my brush. _

I sent the thought to Riku as I made my bed. He complied by snapping my hair brush right at the back of my head and slamming the bathroom door shut.

"Thanks buddy" I whispered sarcastically, picking up the brush and rubbing the back of my head

Heeding Riku's words, I changed into a plain white V-neck and a pair of short navy blue jean shorts and a pair of dark tennis shoes before brushing out my blonde hair, pulling it up in a ponytail and launching my brush back at the bathroom door. It hit the door with a loud _thud!_ And I heard Riku yelp in surprise.

"You're welcome!" I laughed before heading out of the room.

"What just happened in there?" Namine asked me curiously as we headed down the hall.

"Oh no big deal, so what's up?"

"Well, you know how you were telling us the other day how you kind of vanished for ten years or so, didn't age, and came back to see all your friends were older than you?" Namine asked me, slightly sarcastic

"You mean when somebody shoved me into the Realm of Nothingness? Oh I remember, ten years and not a single birthday cake" I wiped an imaginary tear from my eye. Namine smiled

"Well I've been thinking about that, and I'm pretty sure I've figured two things out relating it. First of all, you aren't this generations Keyblade Master"

"_What?"_ I jerked to a halt, frantically looking over at Namine.

"Sora is, which leads me to my second point" she said calmly, "I think whoever put you to sleep for ten years in the Realm of Nothingness was on our side. I mean, think; whatever great power that is in charge of assigning Keyblade Bearers and all that must have some sort of schedule going on. I mean, one person dies, time to give the next their Awakening." She paused to be sure I was following.

"Go on"

"Well let's say you didn't end up in that realm for ten years, and you met an untimely death around your early twenties or so. Then, Sora would come in a few years later, give or take a year or two. But, since you were in the Realm of Nothingness, you somehow cheated your early death, and when you came out of the realm, there were two Keyblade Bearers." Namine concluded, looking at me anxiously

"So you're saying, whoever put me in the Realm of Nothingness for ten years was somehow saving my life from a future catastrophe?"

"Yeah pretty much" I stopped to think

"Hmmm…you know it's a pretty good theory. It doesn't explain how to kill the Demon Lord or anything useful like that, no offense, but it is nice to know we have someone on our side."

"Someone who knows the future"

"It would seem that way."

"Talking about me?" Riku came up behind us and wrapped one arm around each of our shoulders. Namine squeaked in surprise

"Riku scare you?"

"Just a bit" she whispered

"Don't worry, he's just a big softie, I'm sure you could take him" I told her, smiling at Riku's glare. Namine smiled and nodded

"Especially since I have this!" Without further ado, Namine stepped away from me and Riku and summoned up a blade. A real, legit blade.

The hilt looked like it was made out of paper, folded perfectly around in a hilt-shape, with a metal spiral (like a notebook spiral), forming the body of the blade, all different colors forming their own strands and tracing up through the middle of the spiral. The head of the blade was made of three colored pencils, the points sharpened to a deadly tip, something that would actually most likely make an effective Heartless killer. The three colors were impossible to determine, because they changed constantly with every shift in the light.

"Well shit, I'm in big trouble aren't I?" Riku asked lightly. Namine smiled and swung her blade out of him, making him step backwards to avoid losing his nose.

"Well aren't you just full of surprises?" I teased. The three of us laughed and headed for the front of the ship.

_*Riku*_

_Oh this is just my luck._

I sighed and reached a hand cautiously to the top of my head, again. My Halloween Town attire was actually pretty badass looking, or it would've been if I wasn't so afraid it was going to kill me.

My regular clothes were the same, except for PG-rated rips and tears going along and throughout my jackets and jeans. Dark stitches etched their way up my arms, most of them untied at the ends, and I could fell a long stitch going around a good part of my neck. Then there was the axe sticking out of the top of my head, and dried blood splattered on my face and clothes. How this world managed to shove an axe into my brain and not kill me, I had no idea.

"Well don't you look cute? I guess it's a good thing you didn't have any brain to start with, or we'd be in quite a fix" I'd recognize that devious tone anywhere

"Fury" I snarled turning around. There she stood all high and mighty with herself…except…

"Whoa your eyes!"

"What about my eyes?" She gasped, looking worried. Frantically, she searched for something reflective.

"Uhm, Fury?" _What in the worlds?_

"Uhm, _Lauren_? What, does having an axe in your head make you blind too?" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at me.

"Okay what's going on here?" She was the spitting image of Fury, except that her eyes were Lauren's pale blue…whoever she was.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh hey Riku, nice axe. Oh and hey…Fury? Wait, Lauren?" Sora scratched his head in confusion.

"Is it really that hard to tell whether I'm Fury or Lauren? It's not like we look alike."

"Not usually, but for now you guys could be twins" Kairi held up a small compact mirror which Fury…Lauren…_She _looked into.

"Whoa, no wonder. But I am definitely Lauren, if I was Fury my eyes would be red…and I'd be trying to kill Riku." Kairi laughed

"But of course"

"Well this is just my luck; not only do I have an axe in my head, but my girlfriend resembles someone who absolutely hates me" Lauren grinned a very scary Fury smile and I just sighed.

As we entered the town through the large gate I had been leaning on, I took the time to observe everybody's…Halloween costumes (Ha ha).

Sora had been given an orange, pumpkin-like eye patch that covered his right eye, and a dark, unnatural shadow was cast over his other eye, making it gleam, wickedly. He also had sparkling white vampire teeth in place of his canines, a small black cape that ended just past his shoulder blades, and a pair of white gloves that covered fingers that looked suspiciously like they ended in claws. The rest of his apparel was very similar to what he usually wore except his clothes were a color close to midnight. He looked absolutely demented…which I'm sure Kairi found very attractive.

Speaking of which, Kairi's outfit definitely attracted attention, it being the polar opposite of what she usually wore. On her head was a witch's hat with a small silver and black belt around it, a similar collar-like belt wrapped around her neck. She had in her hand a small black lantern with bat wings coming off of it. Her shirt ended about an inch above her belly button, the black material looking like it had been burned or shredded at the edges. As for pants, she wore black pants that went down to her ankles in the back, but were cut roughly in the front so they ended about mid-thigh. The pants were held up with an over-sized black leather belt with silver buckles that resembled the other two on her body.

Roxas' outfit was somewhat similar to Sora's, being that he also had a pumpkin eye patch over his eye, only it covered his left eye and it was dark black with glowing green eyes. His fangs glinted somehow more noticeably against his face. He had on a white dress-shirt with a dark red vest over it, but against the shirt you could see splatters of blood like he had just stuck an axe in somebody…maybe that's how I got the way I was. His pants were torn and I got the impression that he had somehow been involved in a mob that ended with the murder of someone. He also had on strange, white claw-gloves like his Other. His eyes were a scarlet red.

As for _my_ Other, Axel had a dark bandanna wrapped around his forehead with the hair above the bandanna it's usual spiky style, and the hair below it in bright red dreadlocks. Over his right eye was a pirate eye patch, and, as the moonlight caught his hair, I noticed beads of different colors were woven into his hair. He had on a white collared shirt with a black vest over it and dark pants, which were torn and bloodied like Roxas'.

Namine had on her white dress, but it was torn and looked as if it had been burnt at the edges, and was splattered in what looked like blood. Small black bat-like accessories were wrapped around her wrists and ankles, and she had a tilted witch's hat with a black bat on it, tied to a silver ribbon that wrapped around the hat. She smiled slightly as she looked at everyone else, small fangs protruding from her mouth.

I ran my tongue over my teeth; _oh come on_-why didn't I get fangs?

Lauren looked like Fury basically, disturbing I know.

"Hey Roxas no don't step there!" Sora yelled, snapping my attention away from my girlfriend. Roxas was standing over a water grate, a questioning look on his face. Next thing I knew, sickly green water had shot up out of the grate with such force it sent Roxas flying up about ten feet into the air. He landed back on the ground next to the grate with an _oomph!_

"As usual, the denizens of light come to a new world and do nothing but goof off and get themselves into ridiculous situations. How predictable" A voice sneered. All of our heads snapped towards the cemetery.

"Stardust" I heard Lauren growl through Fury's fangs. She took off towards the cemetery before anybody could react.

_*Lauren*_

"What are you doing here?" I snarled, before feeling Fury's conscience swell up inside of me. Her mind over took mine before I had a chance to react. My vision enhanced.

Stardust turned around and her facial expressions changed rapidly. One second she was smirking to herself, the next her eyes were widening in shock as she saw me, and finally she screamed at me, hissing with rage.

"What are you doing here? _She _isn't supposed to know about you! This _isn't right!"_ She cried, almost desperate.

"Oh that's right, you stupid Demons never figured out that I was the one who saved my Light Being, and brought her back to life. We've been working together this whole time"

"Save the story, you can tell it when I drag your half dead body back to my Lord!" she snarled to me.

_Oh now you've done it._

**This is gonna be fun.**

_*Fury*_

I summoned up my black sword as Stardust unraveled the whip hanging at her waist. She snapped at me, its tip seeking blood.

With almost relaxed ease, I blocked the whip, letting it wrap around my blade before swinging it sideways, my super human strength sending Stardust careening into an over sized gravestone.

"Is that all you've got? You're hurting my feelings!" I called to her, almost laughing unnaturally as she shrieked angrily. She lunged at me, barreling me over and punching me hard in the face before I knocked her off of me with the flat side of my sword. I quickly jumped up and slashed away her whip, its tip drawing a light scratch on my jaw bone.

She backed up quickly to the side of the cemetery, jumped up and, using the stone wall to push off, she launched herself at me. I bent backwards, my back to the ground with the part of my legs beneath my knees curled under me. Then, as she passed over me, I used my arms to lift myself up from the ground, uncurled my legs, and bicycle-kicked her high into the air.

I sprinted to the stone wall Stardust had used to lunge at me, running up it. From there I jumped to the top of a gravestone, before finally pushing myself high into the air, spreading my wings slightly so I would be able to soar up. I shot into the air like a rocket, flying past Stardust as she flipped herself over; preparing to fall back to the ground.

Hovering over her, I summoned my sword back to me and raised it over my head, darkness gathering around it and dark lightning beginning to snap and sparkle. As Stardust began her descent, I threw my blade out in front of me, the wave of power shooting down and smashing her into the ground. I brought my wings to my body and sped towards the ground, flipping and landing on my feet with ease.

Stardust staggered to her feet, weary and hurt and breathing hard. She glanced back at me one more time before springing towards the nearest gravestone, a portal emerging against the rough stone. I took off after her, just a few steps behind.

As she stepped into the portal I brought back my fist and…smashed it into the stone, breaking the entire gravestone up.

"Dammit!" I shouted, stomping my foot angrily. _She got away._

"And this is Fury…erm and Lauren. They are two people in one you see" I heard Sora say behind me. I whirled around to see the rest of the group along with a very tall, very slim skeleton man.

"And you are?" I asked, trying to distract myself from wanting to kill something slowly.

"My name is Jack Skellington, and I am in the process of planning this year's Halloween Festival! Say, you look pretty scary- do you think you and your friend who just ran off could be part of the show? I'm sure the two of you would be a huge hit!" Everyone laughed, other than me that is.

"Look here buddy", I told him, stomping right up to him and poking him hard the chest with my index finger, "That Demon that just disappeared is _not_ my friend, and I have better things to do with my life than perform in some _stupid_ show!" Jack looked at me, the dark indentations on his face where his eyes should have been staring intently at me. He was completely un-intimidated.

"Well that's too bad" He said finally, putting his right hand on his hip and scratching his chin with his other skeletal hand. "You don't suppose other Demons like yourself would be interested in participating in my show do you?"

"_I'm not a Demon-I'm a Dark Being you brainless pile of bones!"_ I shrieked at him. He smiled way too largely.

"Nonetheless though, meeting you has given me some great ideas for this Halloween! I simply must get back to work! It was nice to meet all of you, and it was good to see you again Sora!" Jack waved before heading off quickly back towards the town.

"So, did you kill Stardust?" Namine asked conversationally, acting very unlike Namine. Lauren's conscience attempted to snatch over mine and give her control.

**I don't think so.**

I shoved her mind back, but she insistently kept trying to gain control of our body. The problem with this world was that we couldn't separate. My head throbbing, I bent over.

"She got away, but I'm guessing she'll be back" I told them.

"Why don't you stay here and the rest of us can go check out Christmas Town?" Sora offered, flinching when I glared at him through my pain.

"Do you honestly think I'll let you guys leave me behind?" I growled. Sora quickly rephrased his offer.

"I meant stay here with somebody else to guard the town in case she comes back while the rest of us go be sure Christmas Town is ok!"

"Nice save" Riku commented, getting an elbow to the side from Sora.

"Fine I'll stay and keep watch. Who else is staying?" I asked.

"I will" Riku said casually, leaning against a gravestone.

"I don't think so! You need to come meet Santa!" Sora exclaimed, glaring at Riku seriously. Kairi and Namine did their best to contain their laughter. Riku pulled a black rectangle out of his pocket and tossed it to Sora.

"Take a picture and bring it back. It'll last longer than any memory anyway" He said calmly as Sora grudgingly tucked Riku's phone away in his pocket.

"Fine" He said before walking off, the others following him into the woods.

"Well I guess it's just you and me now" Riku said, sitting down in front of me, looking over me thoughtfully.

"You do know you're talking to Fury right?" I told him, massaging my temples. Shock flashed in his eyes. But he did his best to cover it up.

"That's what I thought"

"You had no idea."

"_Yes_, I did."

"_No_, you didn't."

"…Shut up."

_*Sora*_

"Uhm Sora? Are you sure about this?" Kairi asked nervously, peering into the Christmas-Tree-shaped hole in the side of the tree's trunk. "I thought Santa lived at the North Pole, not inside a tree"

"Don't worry Kairi! It's like a portal to a whole other world! It's not just the inside of the tree."

"I don't know about this…maybe I should just go back with Riku and Lauren and Fury" Kairi was nervously wringing her hands out in front of her. The others had already jumped through the portal, but Kairi was determined not to go easily.

"How about I hold your hand, and we jump through together? When you're with me, you'll be safe." I held my hand out to her, and she hesitantly took it.

"Don't you dare let go Sora." She told me firmly, gripping my hand tightly. I smiled and nodded

"Don't worry, I've gotcha." She smiled, looking into my eyes and holding my gaze. I thought faintly of the time Jack and Sally had danced in the snow here last time I had visited, and how I had pictured me and Kairi dancing…

A huge gust of when blew through the forest and a branch snapped loudly, causing us both to jump. That was when I realized how close we suddenly were. Our hands were still interlocked, but our chests were practically touching now, and her face was almost directly beneath mine.

"Soareyoureadytogo?" I asked quickly, jumping back and hoping the moon's light would help to hide my blush. Kairi gave a small smile, blushed lightly, and nodded.

"Okay, on the count of three. One…two…three!" I jumped through the hole pulling her with me. I turned around as I fell, catching her as we spiraled down to Christmas Town.

_*Riku*_

"Hey are you all right?" I asked Lauren….Fury, whoever, as she leaned against one of the surrounding walls of the Town Square, groaning.

"Here in this place, Fury and my conscience are a lot closer together. The lines that separate us are blurred together, and it's hard to maintain control as one person."

"And?"

"And it's giving me one hell of a headache!" she snapped, massaging her temples.

"Oh I'm sorry", I said sincerely, walking alongside her as we wandered around, "Can I help at all?" Lauren glanced at me.

"I don't know, talk to me, distract me."

"Distract you eh?" I smirked, that I could do.

"Need I remind you I have fangs full of poison, and Fury's conscience is battling with mine? If she got control of me while I was kissing you she would bite you and you would be dead. And then who would I pull pranks on?"

"I thought you were done with that." Lauren froze in mid-step, before continuing on.

"Oh I am" she assured me coolly.

"Uh-huh" I said, looking her over skeptically. She grinned widely, making me shudder.

"So where to?" I asked, looking away.

"Hmm…hey what about there?" She pointed through the graveyard to a large gate that blocked the way to a pumpkin patch beyond it, and a large, curled hill in the center.

"Ok, let's go."

_*Kairi*_

I was completely confused. Above me was warm, and below me was freezing cold. But I still refused to open my eyes. Sora tugging me into the black pit in that tree and spiraling down was an awful experience, and I was still too nervous to open my eyes.

"Come on Kairi, its ok! This place is fabulous!" I opened eyelid just slightly, and I managed to figure everything out.

Sora was leaning over me, warming me. My back was buried in the snow, freezing me. _Well, this is awkward._

"Okay okay Sora, my eyes are open now" I told him, opening both of my eyes fully, taking in his flawless face with the night sky and the light fall of snow behind him. He grinned and made me wish I could save the moment, but it was gone in a flash as he pulled me to my feet.

"I'm sorry about scaring you Kai! But I didn't think you were gonna take it slow and steady" He explained, his hands rubbing warmth back into my arms.

"It's okay Sora; I know you weren't trying to scare the life out of me." Blinking, I looked past him, "Where are the others?"

"Oh they already headed into town!"

"And where's that?"

"Turn around and see!" I turned and my eyes were greeted with a kaleidoscope of colors. Lights were wrapped around every building and surrounded every window, the houses all in fantastic candy colors, a merry-go-round spinning so quickly the colors blurred, and, best of all; the big Christmas tree in the center of town, every decoration imaginable hanging from its green limbs (A/N I just added the Christmas tree for fun)

"Come on Sora let's go!" I cried, sprinting down the snow-covered hill for the town, not even waiting for him.

"Hey Kai wait up!" I heard Sora call from behind me with a laugh. Within seconds he overtook me, speeding down the hill.

_****_

By the time we got to the gate entrance to this town (I noticed that this town's gate was open, while Halloween Town's was closed), Sora and I were both breathing heavily. Namine, Roxas, and Axel were all there waiting for us, itching to go see what there was to see.

"All right, first thing's first; be on the lookout for Heartless!" Sora said, deepening his voice so he could sound more in charge.

"There are Heartless here?" Namine asked, shocked. Sora nodded

"Strange I know, but this place actually has some pretty nasty Heartless sometimes, so be sure to look out for them. Second, all of you behave when we see Santa!" Sora's voice returned to normal when he said 'Santa'. He was too excited to keep up the charade. We all nodded, grinning like idiots. _I mean, who wouldn't want to meet the one and only Santa Claus?_

Trying to soak up the entire town with our eyes, we headed into Christmas Town.

"So where's this Santa's workshop?" Axel asked, looking around.

"Oh, it's the giant building straight ahea-AH!" Sora's voice broke off with a shout as the ground rumbled. The snow beneath the merry-go-round became black; causing the ride to sink into the blackness like it was a pool of water. Then, out lunged a Neoshadow. Only this Neoshadow was maybe ten times bigger than the norm, and had the individual riding pieces from the merry-go-round gripped in its hands.

It's glowing yellow eyes focused on us, and it tossed the pieces at us. I felt Sora grab my hand and pull me aside, the two of us landing in front of a small house in a pile of snow.

"Watch yourself Kairi!" He told me before springing up, summoning a candy-cane colored Keyblade and sprinting for the Heartless. I summoned Blooming Strength and followed him.

_*Riku*_

After demolishing a few double-headed ghost Heartless, Riku and I settled at the crest of the curling hill. Riku was lost in thought while I, after managing to calm my conscience(s) down, stared out at the oversized moon.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked Riku finally, trying not to let the fact that the moon lit his face up like he was some kind of angel distract me.

**It's distracting you**

_Shut up_

"I'm just wondering about this and that"

"Well which this and which that?"

"Excuse me?" I grinned; I had a talent for confusing people with odd logic.

"This means a variety of things, and that means a variety of things." Riku smirked

"Well I'm thinking about that this, and this that." He turned towards me

_**Take that**_

"Curiouser and curiouser" I said in a sing-song voice

"Hey you've read Alice and Wonderland?" I smiled and nodded

"I love that book, so they have it on Destiny Islands too?" Riku nodded

"I tried to get Sora to read it but he got confused and told me to stop making him read stupid nonsense books" I laughed

"You know, Wonderland is a world"

"I'm not surprised."

"So do you suppose there are ways to travel worlds other than gummi ships? I mean, how else would this stuff travel around the universe…dimension…this place?" I threw my arms out in a sweeping gesture. Riku just shrugged

"There are the Corridors of Darkness, how the Heartless travel…how I traveled." He looked down.

"The key part is travel_ed, _that's all in the past now_"_ I pointed out, looking over.

"I suppose….how do you suppose the Heartless got here?" He asked suddenly.

"Wait, huh?"

"Well I mean, if the Demons came from another Realm then maybe the Heartless did too" Riku exclaimed, clearly thinking he was on to something.

"Did you know Ansem the Wise?" _Time to burst his bubble._

"What do you know about him?"

"Well he wrote these entries on Heartless and the basic properties of the heart that were nicknamed the 'Ansem Reports'. In them he talks about a lab he built underneath the castle in Radiant Garden where he conducted experiments on the heart." I informed him.

_**Go on.**_

_Stop that._

Riku just chuckled.

"Ok, so without him knowing, his six apprentices, whose Nobodies became members of Organization XIII, conducted darker and more dangerous experiments. When Ansem found out he ordered them to stop, but they ignored him, and eventually they created Heartless. Well, synthetic Heartless at least. I don't_ think_ they created the original Heartless, but I do know that the ones they created they branded with an emblem, and called them Emblem Heartless."

"Like the ones we just fought" Riku said, gesturing behind us.

"Exactly, so the Heartless took over that world, and spread. So whose fault is it? The scientist who started the experiments or the apprentices who experimented too far?"

"That is a _great_ question"

"Haha well it was nice having a deep conversation with ya buddy" I clapped him on the back. He returned it with a questioning look.

"What? Do you want me to kiss you while I look like this?" I pointed to myself

**What's that supposed to mean?**

_Well if you really want me to kiss him…_

**NO!**

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Riku waved a hand in front of my face.

"What? Oh sorry yeah I was!" Riku smiled

"If anybody else had said that I would probably fear for their sanity."

"But not me?"

"Nope! I already know you're crazy!" Riku jumped of the hill and headed back towards the town.

"Hey get back here!"

_*Sora*_

Panting, the five of us trudged back towards the town; somewhat beaten and bruised (I had been able to heal everybody a little using two potions). (A/N sorry about not adding in the actual fight- I couldn't think of how to describe it)

"Hey, you hanging in there?" I asked Kairi who was a bit behind everybody. She nodded

"Yeah I'm all right, thanks for saving me back there…more than once" I grinned

"Anytime, I've got your back." Kairi smiled and the whole atmosphere seemed to brighten.

"Hey what happened to you guys?" Riku called coming over to us. Lauren or Fury or whoever followed up.

"Did you guys run into Stardust?"

"Nah, we got attacked by a giant Neoshadow! Right Roxas?" Axel told them. Roxas nodded

"And it was easily twenty stories tall and two buildings wide!" Axel added. Riku and Lauren looked at each other

"I see" Lauren said skeptically

"Really it was!" The red head insisted.

"Face it Axel-they aren't buying it" Roxas said, ending his protests.

"Hey they were just starting to believe me!"

"No they weren't!"

"They were too!"

"So guess what I got" I said, turning to Riku and holding out his phone. Riku took it and checked his pictures. His eyes widened and I knew what he saw- a picture of the one and only Santa Claus standing in his workshop, smiling at the camera.

"Sora took forever to make sure that picture was just right, you know" Kairi added. Riku put his phone in his pocket casually.

"The only problem with modern technology", he began, "is that stuff like this", he pointed to his pocket holding his phone, referring to the picture, "is something that can be created and doesn't necessarily have to exist."

"Wha-what? Are you saying that I somehow created that picture? Just magically? Riku you know I'm terrible with technology-just checking my e-mail takes half an hour!"

"You had Kairi help you" my stupid friend decided

"Don't bring me into this" The auburn warned.

"Why you lousy, thick-headed, non-believing-

"Whoa whoa whoa calm it down, just take this as a learning experience not to try and fool your elders" Riku said, smirking successfully.

"_You're only a year older than me!"_ I shouted.

Then I tackled him to the ground.

_*Stardust*_

"Well well well look what the cat dragged in" Nightshade purred, sounding like a cat herself. I wiped a bit of dirt of my forehead and glared threateningly.

"It looks like they were a bit too much for you huh?" Midnight giggled.

"I just ran into some complications" I said casually. After all- I knew something critical that they didn't, and I was going to earn our Lord's favor, not them.

"Well I'm sure you can tell Him allll about it" Nightshade crooned, opening a portal. _Shit I can't go back like this! I'll get brushed off and laughed at whether I tell Him about Fury or not!_

"No! Well that is, we don't know where they are going next, and it's not like we have any exciting news to report"

"Nope, just the usual. You got your butt kicked by a bunch of Light Beings. No surprise there"

"Don't" I growled. Nightshade hesitated

"Fine, but after the next time we meet, we are going back to our Realm to tell our Lord what we know, so he can decide if he wants to cross over to this Realm and take care of them personally" I nodded.

_The next time we meet, I'm going to kill you Fury, and bring your head back on a platter as a gift to our Lord, and Aros will no longer be his second in command. That useless, weak, good for nothing h-_

"Ready to go? Midnight asked

"Those light idiots are at a new world already?" I asked. _That can't be right_

"No of course not, we are going out to get a few hearts" Midnight grinned maliciously. I grinned back darkly.

"I'm in."

**So there you have it. Things are slowly starting to piece together, and I'm doing my best to tie up any loose ends. I hope you guys liked it and I'm not sure when I'll be able to update, so just bear with me here. If you guys have any questions feel free to PM me! Other than that, please review and I hope you liked it!**

**Oh and other news-I'm now a beta-reader if anybody is looking for one I don't have any work yet so just PM me your story's basics and I'll check it out! Until next time everyone!**


	32. Twisted

**I'm baaaack! Jeez it's been forever. I'm happy to say though that this chapter is definitely one of my favorites (and longest :D)! Now I know, I know, it's taking me much longer than it should to crank these babies out, but I (unfortunately) have a disgustingly busy schedule, and get maybe one or two nights a week during which I can work on this story. Don't worry though; I'd sooner die than not finish this (especially since I'm incredibly close to the end) Now, I have one quick announcement, and that would be to thank my lovely new beta-reader **_**kissmyanimex2010 **_**for proofing this chapter!**

**Enjoy everybody! Sorry for depraving you for so long**

_*Selphie*_

"_Whoa!" _I sat bolt upright in my bed, wiping sweat off my forehead. "Some dream" I panted, brushing my chocolate locks away from my face.

It was around 2:00 in the afternoon, so we would be arriving in Wonderland soon, but I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and had passed the time with a nap.

I stumbled into the bathroom, still shaking away the nightmare. Looking myself in the mirror, I could see that bright light that used to rest behind my eyes was no longer there; it had been replaced with a burning flame. This whole adventure, it had changed me, I was beginning to notice I was no longer perky and peppy all the time. I mean, I was still easily the most optimistic person here, but I was able to be serious now.

I was also getting stronger, and I was able to fight and train for longer and longer without getting tired. I brushed my hair, the ends automatically flipping up. I had an odd urge to make them aim straight down, no longer liking how incredibly girly and almost childish it made me.

I stared in the mirror for a minute. _Would Tidus like my hair straight? Everyone's changing, maybe I should too? It would make me seem a bit more serious._

I turned on my flat iron.

Fighting the Heartless was hard, and it was scary, but Demons were the ones who found me in my dreams. I suppose my hatred towards them was a good thing though, considering I'd have to kill more than one of them soon.

_*Roxas*_

"Namine!" I called, walking down one of the hallways of the ship. We were landing soon, and I just wanted to see her before we set off to check on the Princess of Heart who lived in Wonderland. All of the other Princesses had people to look over them, but Sora had said Alice didn't have anyone around who could fight.

"Namin-whoa!" A girl with dark brown hair stepped out one of the rooms and I back-pedaled to keep from bumping into her.

"Roxas?" She turned to me, coffee eyes blinking.

"Oh…Selphie?" I rubbed eyes and stared.

"Ha yeah it's me!" She smiled widely

"Look have you seen Namine anywhere?" She thought for a minute

"I haven't seen her today, but if I had to guess she's with Kairi"

"And where's Kairi"

"Hmm you might want to check the lounge"

"Thanks Selph!" I said calling her by the nickname I'd heard the others address her by.

"Heh no problem…Rox…I guess that doesn't really work does it?" I shook my head

"No really, but thanks for the help!" I said, heading towards the lounge. Selphie headed off in the opposite way.

"Oh hey Selphie?"

"Yeah?" She turned

"I like your hair like that" She grinned

"Thanks!"

_*Kairi*_

"_Take that!"_

"Stop it Riku! Jesus"

"Now now there's no need for that" Riku chastised

"Grrrr"

"Ooooh I made him mad Kairi" Riku smirked over his shoulder at me, winking. I smothered a laugh

"Leave him alone Riku, you're being immature."

"YEAH RIKU! YOU'RE BEING IMMATURE!" Sora shouted in my ear. I looked at him oddly, not blinking.

"What?" Sora asked after a minute, annoyed. I continued staring.

"What Riku?" He exclaimed. I hit him hard with my game controller.

"OW!"

"Heh, loser" I smirked and proceeded to whoop his ass at our game…again.

"The score is now 38 to…3!" Sora planted his face in the carpet.

"Screw you man" He mumbled, punching my leg.

"Rematch?" I asked, waving the controller.

"Forget it" Sora grumbled, getting up. A thought occurring, I quickly stood up and gestured towards the game behind Riku's back.

_Go! Go…play!_ I mouthed at Sora, viciously gesturing at the TV. Sora just kept shaking head.

_YES!_ I mouthed angrily. He glared at me before turning and sitting down next to Riku.

"Fine, one last game, and then I need to go land the ship" He grumbled. Riku made a happy noise.

"Ready to lose?" Sora just growled something I couldn't quite catch.

"What would you're mother say if she heard you say that Sora?" Riku _tsked,_ starting up another round of the game (A/N I don't know what game, it can be whatever you like).

"You can let somebody else land the ship anyways, you suck at it" he said conversationally, completely at ease as Sora gave the game his all. After the game got visibly more intense (The two guys leaned in and stopped talking…and probably breathing) I snuck up quietly, the carpet masking my footsteps.

"GO SORA!" I cheered, tackling Riku

"Oof!" Riku's face buried itself in the carpet. I locked my legs around his middle and covered his eyes with my hands, clinging firmly to him.

Laughing Sora stepped away from the madness, not taking his eyes off of the television. Riku stood up and spun around

"Let go of me Kai" He warned.

"You don't even know where you're going!"

"I fought blindfolded for months; I know just where I am" _Uh-oh_

Riku walked around Sora so he was behind him, grabbed my wrists, and flipped me over him.

"_Ah!" _I shrieked as I went careening over Riku, landing ungracefully on a happy Sora

"I won I won I won! Take _that_ Riku!" Sora twisted his head and stuck his tongue out at Riku, entirely unfazed at having me sitting on his back in a heap.

"Oh congrats Sora, the score's now 38 to_ 4_! Wow only thirty-four more of those sneak attacks and we'll be _tied_!" Sora glared at him and Riku just stuck out his tongue.

"SNEAK ATTACK!" Came a shout from behind Riku. He turned easily and dodged Tidus' punch, swiping his legs out from under him. The only problem was that Tidus didn't seem put out at all. Out of nowhere a streak of blue knocked Riku sideways, barreling him over and pinning him easily, leaning on her hands and feet, which were positioned over his forearms and ankles.

"Morning Lauren" Riku yawned, "You know, I'm really getting tired of being tackled"

"Oh you're just mad I pinned you" They both stuck their tongues out at each other. Tidus made a face at them.

"Nice job being the bait Tidus" Lauren beamed

"Oh whatever, I still want that five munny I was promised" Lauren sighed happily

"Ah, friendship" She shook her head slightly, stepping off Riku and pulling him up so hard he went about an inch into the air. Fury-strength.

"Hey is the world with the heart-like court Wonderland?" Namine asked, peeking her head into the lounge, smiling at the chaotic scene.

"Yeah that's it! How do you know what it looks like?" Sora asked.

"We just passed it…"

"SHIT!" Sora scrambled to his feet and sprinted out of the room.

"Sora don't you dare land this ship I'm sick of you crashing and all the stuff in my room falling over!" Riku yelled, running after him.

"Hey I wanna land the ship!" Tidus whined, running after the two. Lauren, Namine, and I all just looked at each other and sighed

"Boys"

_*Sora*_

"Ok, so who's going to stay behind and watch the ship?"

"Well not us! We did last time" Selphie pointed out right away, acting strangely serious.

"Ok fair enough, how about you three?" I pointed to Axel, Roxas, and Namine, who were standing in their own little trio, as they normally did.

"Oh sure, discriminate against the Nobodies I see how it is!" Axel complained

"Why don't you four stay and watch the ship?" Tidus gestured to me, Riku, Kairi, and Lauren.

"Because raise your hand if you've been here!" Lauren smirked. She, Roxas, Riku and I raised our hands.

"Raise your hands if you're a Princess" Kairi and Selphie raised their hands.

"Uh, Selph?" Riku raised an eyebrow. Selphie laughed

"I like to think I am"

"Well, the five of us who were _supposed_ to raise their hands are allowed to stay here." Lauren decided, "Tidus, Wakka, Axel; you guys can watch the ship. Namine, you can come along because you're Nobody is a Princess of Heart"

"How the hell does that work?"

"That's total bullshit!"

"Anybody who has any complaints can take it up with Fury" Lauren walked off towards the door to the Bizarre Room, Fury drifting out her and crossing her arms.

"Is there a problem?" Fury smiled her fanged smile. Axel, Tidus, and Wakka trudged back up the ship's opening ramp.

"How did you figure that arrangement?" I asked Lauren quietly.

"That's Lauren-logic" She said with a grin. I shrugged

"It's got a nice ring to it"

_*Roxas*_

So here was the deal; Namine and I were watching over this world's Princess of Heart, Alice Liddell, while Riku, Lauren, Sora, and Kairi went out to fight Heartless (there had been an odd surge of Heartless in this world). Alice had also mentioned seeing a strange looking Heartless-one that looked strangely human. It was most likely a Demon.

So now Namine and I were guarding over Alice so she wouldn't get hurt while the others went out Heartless/Demon hunting.

Hooray.

"So Alice…how did you end up here in Wonderland?" I asked her. She looked up from her hands, which were resting in her lap.

"Oh well, you see, I was exploring when I fell down a rabbit hole and landed here!" She told me in her sweet English accent. She was one of those people that members of both genders find completely adorable in a completely not I-Wanna-Date-You kind of way. _You know?_ Yeah, of course you do.

"So you fell down a rabbit hole?" Namine asked

"Yes" Alice clarified.

"Well isn't that…interesting" Alice blushed and looked back down at her lap before suddenly jumping up.

"Oh my gracious! I am such a dreadful host! I should most certainly get the two of you something to eat and drink! Follow me please! I beg your pardon dearly for my rude behavior" Alice began walking towards the forest

"Hey where are we going?" I asked, gently grabbing her arm.

"To have tea" She said with a smile. Namine squeaked with joy and clapped her hands together

"Let's go!" Namine grabbed both of us and hauled us into the Lotus Forest.

_Well this will be fun…_

_*Lauren*_

"So should we split up?"

"Sure! Why don't you and Riku go search the Bizarre Room and Kairi and I will search this forest." Sora ordered, making the last sentence more of a statement.

"Why don't I shove my sword where you don't want if you think you can tell me what to-

I clapped my hand over my mouth. The other stared at me, wide-eyed. I removed and smiled graciously

"Fury's a little moody" The other three nodded calmly and we kept walking. We are such a strange group.

_Do I hear an old friend?_

I swung my head around, trying to find who spoke.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Riku summoned his blade and nodded

"Yup"

_Now there's no need for that, not when there are shadows to be fought!_

"Wait a second" Sora and I said in unison.

"Chess!" I exclaimed as a pink and purple cat's head appeared in mid-air.

_It's nice to see you again, and you got here just in time! It's such a relief to have the Keybearers here._

"Sarcastic much?" I asked, putting my hand on my hip. The rest of the Cheshire Cat materialized in the air in front of us and he grinned much too widely.

"Any advice for us today?" Sora asked. Kairi and Riku were silent, never having met the cat.

_There are shadows in the forest and on the walls, but be sure to trust your instincts, because they are not as they appear._

The cat vanished into thin air, his smile being the last thing to vanish. (A/N sorry, I suck at being the Cheshire Cat, I know)

"Does he ever give a straight answer to anything?" Riku exclaimed, spreading his arms.

"No" Sora and I said together. Kairi laughed.

"Should we split up now?" Kairi asked. We nodded

"Yeah we might as well. Riku and I will go to the Bizarre Room!" I said, grabbing Riku's wrist.

"Gotcha" Sora nodded and he and Kairi walked off.

"Well let's get going partner" Riku said.

The two of us climbed up a few overgrown mushrooms, jumped onto a tree branch and then went through a hole in its trunk.

Perfectly normal right?

_*Roxas*_

I sunk further into the bright pink seat cushion and tried not to grumble while Namine and Alice served each other tea and these tiny little sandwiches like we weren't in a position where a deadly enemy could pop up at any moment.

"Roxas would you like something more to drink?" Alice asked, waving the tea pot towards me. She was a very nice (and ridiculously polite) girl, but this tea party thing just wasn't my style.

"No that's ok Alice. I'm actually gonna step outside for a second and get some air" I told them. I slipped through the white gate, exiting the small garden and walked down the small path into the forest.

Yawning, I stretched my arms up and balled my hands into fists. I blinked sleepily and glanced around. A bright flash of yellow caught my eye.

_What the…?_ It looked like…blonde? Like, a girl's hair? I quickly side stepped; trying to see whatever it was clearer.

"Holy mother…" Standing maybe one hundred yards away was Larxene, the hood of her cloak down and her knives between her fingers, electricity crackling around her figure. My hair was practically standing up from the electricity in the hair. She smirked coyly at me before turning around and running off.

I started after her before turning back towards the garden gate…_they would be ok for just a minute_.

_*Kairi*_

"Sora I don't like this place, I feel like the place is tilted sideways" It had been subtle at first, but it definitely felt like the forest was turning slowly to its side. Plus, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was creeping quietly after me…

"That's the general effect that Wonderland has on outsiders I think Kairi, I felt it last time I was here too" Sora patted my shoulder reassuringly. _You have nothing to worry about; you know how to fight now and Sora's here, so nothing is going to get you._ I heard a distinct sound of a snapping twig behind me.

"Who's there?" This place was torturing me, psychologically. Sora spun around, Fenrir in hand. I froze; I couldn't even manage to summon up Blooming Strength. Ansem the Wise was standing there, obviously as surprised to see us as we were to see him.

"Saix?" Sora exclaimed in rage and disbelief. I turned towards him.

"What?"

_*Lauren*_

"Why do I feel the blood rushing to my head?" Riku asked me, an odd tone in his voice.

"Because we're standing on the ceiling?" We looked up at the floor.

"Right. I think this place is broken, I don't remember actually feeling like I was upside down last time I was here…" Riku did look pretty amusing with his long silver hair aimed towards the floor…which was above us. _Weird_

"We should probably get moving before our heads blow up and our ears start bleeding." I said pleasantly.

"That doesn't really happen." Riku said firmly. I grinned

"If you're sure" He just shook his head.

"Here let's go; I pulled him towards a maroon rafter. Once we stepped on it, it gave out under our weight and we fell through and landed on one of the walls.

"Strange, I don't feel like I'm sideways" Riku said, I nodded

"It must just be the ceiling, weird…oh when were you in Wonderland by the way?" Riku stuck his hands in his pockets and turned away. "Hey? You okay?" I put my hand on his shoulder. He looked at me sideways.

"The last time I was here it was when I kidnapped Alice…" He looked away again. Frowning, I stepped in front of him and tilted his chin down so he had to look at me.

"Then I'd say that patrolling her world for her is a great way to repay her." He shook his head

"I can never apologize or redeem myself for taking her heart, and the same goes for Pinocchio, and the other five Princesses I helped kidnap." I ran my thumb over his cheek.

"At least they're ok now" I did my best not to sound bitter. I'd killed people before for money…there was no taking that back. I couldn't even pretend they were ok now.

"Maybe I can be their personal slaves for a few years each" Riku mumbled, only half serious.

"Yeah if we make it that far. First we have to defeat a few thousand Demons."

"And when might that be?"

"I don't know…but it's getting closer. I can feel it…or Fury can. Deep down somewhere in a light forsaken place they're preparing for this final stand."

"No need to sound so ominous" Riku said, surprisingly light-hearted. I guess boys rebounded from more than just girls. He backed me up gently into the wall and kissed me with an unexpected amount of force.

"Ri- I started with shock, but was cut off. I closed my eyes and fisted my hands in his shirt and pulled him closer. He cupped my face in his hand and tilted his head to kiss me more deeply. I slid my hands over his shoulders and down his back, effectively sliding off his first jacket. He smiled against my lips before kissing me again.

A small cough came from behind him. We both froze. I looked past him, nervous.

"Hey Phoebe, can I have this dance?" I gasped.

"Or should I call you _Lauren?"_

"_Sh-shawn?"_

_*Roxas*_

"Hey come back here!" I shouted at Larxene, but she merely cackled and sped up. _This is impossible right? Larxene's dead! Isn't she?_

I rounded the corner and ran straight into Sora.

"Roxas?"

"Sora! Stop her!"

"Who? Kairi?"

"No, Larxene!"

"Who's that?" (A/N remember Sora doesn't remember Castle Oblivion…that's all)

"Is that her?" Kairi spoke up and pointed at Larxene, who was standing next to…Saix?

"What the hell?" I breathed, summoning up my two Keyblades.

"Back up Ansem, we'll take care of her" Kairi said firmly to Saix.

"Kairi that's Saix! Remember? I'm pretty sure he kidnapped you" I whispered to her.

"What? No, that's Larxene on the left, and Ansem the Wise is standing next to her!"

"That's Saix" Sora whispered urgently. The two Nobodies-in-question simply stood there calmly, watching us like robots.

"Sora I know what I'm seeing!" Kairi said, sounding a bit angrily

"Kairi he's obviously tricking you!" I told her. This wasn't the time to be arguing.

"Wait a second…remember what the Cheshire Cat said? _Trust your instincts because they are not as they appear! _Guys they're Heartless!"

"A-are you sure?" I couldn't blame her for sounding unsure, I didn't want to kill Ansem the Wise either, but I trusted my Other. Moving quickly I drove Oblivion through Saix's stomach. He made a choking sound and his eyes became the wild yellow of a Heartless before he evaporated into black smoke.

Of course, at this, the Larxene-Heartless stepped forward aggressively. What felt like a sudden cold breeze passed over my face and suddenly Larxene was Axel. He summoned up his chakrams and I, being closest to him, quickly mouthed _Axel _to the others. Sora nodded and crept up behind the Heartless. Kairi gave a gasp and I assumed the Heartless had changed form in her eyes.

My back brushed a large mushroom and I realized 'Axel' had backed me into a corner. Grinning evilly he raised one of his chakrams-and suddenly had a Keyblade sticking out of his chest. I winced as he vanished, even though I knew it wasn't really Axel.

Sora wiped sweat off his forehead. "Sometimes I really hate this place" Kairi sniffed and we glanced over her.

"I saw Riku" She mumbled. Sora put his arm around her and I turned away, letting them have their moment.

Then two twin screams pierced the otherwise peaceful air.

"Roxas where are Alice and Namine?" My blood ran cold.

_*Lauren*_

My knees felt weak, but I forced myself to stay upright.

"Sh-shawn? Is it really you?"

"Alive and well, no thanks to you considering you _killed me_." I flinched and felt a tingling sensation behind my eyes. _Oh jeez_

"Lauren what's going on?" Riku stepped slightly in front of me, in a ridiculously chivalrous manor.

"My name's Shawn- you're girlfriend here murdered me for a little extra pocket change" My vision blurs and I blink hard before collapsed to my knees, my hands sprawled out in front of me.

"I'm so sorry, that was a long time ago" I thank the heavens I'm a silent crier.

"You're insane! Lauren wouldn't kill somebody out of cold blood!" Riku spat angrily. Shawn just smirked

"Are you sure? Did she forget to mention she used to be an assassin?" Riku blinked, probably remembering that I had told him that a few weeks ago, even though it felt like years.

"I'd take it back, if I had a second chance" I breathe out, two tears falling from my cheeks.

"Well you can't, and as the saying goes; _an eye for an eye._" Shawn pulled out a handgun from inside his designer jacket and aimed it at me. I made no move to protect myself.

**For the hatred of all things Unholy must I do **_**everything?**_

_*Fury*_

_Jesus Christ you all are dense idiots!_ I shout mentally, and quickly snatch hold of Lauren and my shared consciousness. I whip my head up, my eyes red and my fangs out, a slight growl of anger in the back of my throat.

Standing in Shawn's place is a Heartless no doubt, in a humanoid shape, yet lacking an actual face. It was just a blank slab of skin, bare of any features.

"Disgusting" I snarl before lunging forward, summoning my sword, and piercing the changeling in one fluid motion.

I'd imagine his 'eyes' went wide with shock before he vanished, leaving a few momentary smoky strands behind. I phase out of Lauren's body and glare back her and Silver-Haired Bastard.

"I hate this place" Riku said, sounding tired. Lauren peeled herself off the ground and wiped her eyes, shutting her emotions down. _Good girl_

_*Roxas*_

I practically knocked the small fence off of its hinges and I bolted into the garden, Sora and Kairi hot on my heels. Namine and Alice had been cornered across the way by none other than Nightshade, Namine bravely standing in front of Alice with her blade in front of her. I had a momentary surge of affection and respect for the blonde.

Sora ran past me and jumped, then, using his foot to propel him, pushed off the table in the center of the garden and careening into the air, summoning his sword and performing two tight front flips before falling the ground, slamming his Keyblade into the earth at the just the right time, and shockwave of white energy charging right for Nightshade. She cart-wheeled to the right quickly, undoing her whip at her side and cracking it once.

She scanned the three of us, tense and battle-ready. She simply sighed theatrically.

"Not who I'm looking for, and frankly, I'm not in the mood to deal with you amateurs" She practically flew right at me and I instantly dodged right, looking left and meeting her eyes momentarily as she shot past me and into the forest. She turned on her heel quickly and shot a few shadows out of her hand, which formed into Heartless once they hit the ground.

"Have fun!" She called before laughing hysterically and sprinting off. Kairi came up next to me, Blossoming Strength in hand.

"Let's do this" she panted. I nodded

"Right!"

_*Lauren*_

"We need to head back to the others" I said finally, breaking Fury's rant. She glared at me before nodding.

"Right. But I'm not done with you two yet" Riku groaned skyward

"Oh for God's sake you have to be- He cut off abruptly at the sword poking into his jugular.

"Shut it Pretty Boy or I'll shut it for you" Fury hissed. Thankfully Riku remained quiet, and therefore preserved his life for a little longer.

The hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end, and I turned.

Nightshade was standing right behind me. She grinned, showing her elongated canines.

"Catch me if you can" She turned and sprinted off.

"Oh I will bitch, and you're gonna be sorry when I do" Fury growled running past me.

"Hey! Let's finish this up together." I said running up to Fury's now still figure and holding out my hand. She simply sighed.

"If we must" We phased into one and I turned, gave Riku a two-fingered salute, and headed off.

_****_

We ended up on the other side of the bizarre room, along the outer stone lining of the chimney. I stood maybe forty feet from Nightshade, and I could feel Fury's dark energy pounding inside of me. That gave me strength.

"Shall we finish things up?" Nightshade asked calmly, almost casually

"What are you waiting for?" Nightshade charged at me, and I have to admit- her speed caught me off balance. I was barely able to summon up Fury's sword and block her attack with the flat side of the blade. I pushed her back a few feet and dismissed my sword, lunging forward and bring my fist straight at her ribs. She deflected and hit back, but I ducked under her fist and spun around, sticking out my foot and tripping her, before standing back up straight and snapping my leg up, knocking her jaw hard. She fell backwards and de-materialized into darkness, the ground swallowing her up.

I know what was going to happen next, but couldn't react fast enough to prevent it.

She lunged back of the ground and snapped her whip at me, it wrapping tightly around my throat. The actually length of the weapon shortened until we were probably less than a foot away from each other.

Breathing hard, Nightshade panted out her last threat

"I'm going to snap your neck now, and all of my problems will be solved. I'll be rewarded like you wouldn't imagine." She narrowed her eyes and grinned. Just as her arm tightened to pull back I slowly lifted up my right hand. She paused, first blinking curiosity, than in realization. Her eyes met mine as I summoned my sword.

Let's just say the sword was longer than the space between us. Crying out, she staggered backwards, the whip slipping from her hand and vanished into the air. She fell to her knees before slowly fading away, piece by piece. I simply stared numbly, and then headed back the way I had come. I could find no joy in this.

_****_

"_Hey!"_ Riku yelled as he ran up to me, panting. "I wasn't going to follow you, but then I figured that I probably should."

**I'm going to tell the others to meet at the ship**

I felt Fury phase out of me. "It's ok Riku, Nightshade's gone, and it's alright." I told him, looking down.

"Hey" He said more softly, putting a hand on my shoulder, "I don't care about your past ok? The fact you were an assassin none of that. Just forget it; it's over and done with. Here and now is what matters." I felt a wave of anger towards him. _What I had done years before was the reason for what was happening now!_

"Would you forget your past? Simply leave it behind and forget it?" I asked quietly, looking up at him. His eyes clouded and gave me his answer.

"Then don't ask me to forget mine."

_*Sora*_

I resisted the urge to walk down the hall and collapse into my soft, incredible bed so that I could put co-ordinates in for our next destination…not that I knew where that would be. Riku and Lauren had apparently had quite the emotional roller coaster earlier as Riku had explained, so I decided not to bug either of them with suggestions on where to go.

I blinked in surprise as I looked down at the computer to see that our next destination had already been set. To somewhere called "The Badlands". A small picture of the world was presented and it looked like a desolate wasteland…a battle field. My eyes hardened.

_So be it, we'll meet you there and make our final stand. So be it._

**Oh my GOOD GOLLY GOSH the story's end is nearly here! Everything is tying together (and setting up for the sequel *wink wink*) and I'm loving doing so. I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update, once again I get maybe one or two days a week to work on this story because of my schedule, and that's tentative as well. Hang with me everybody! Three chapters left!**

**As always I shall request feedback (positive or negative) to this story/chapter in the form of a review, and if anybody has any questions feel free to PM me or just toss it in a review!**

**~Till next time!**


End file.
